Bulletin No. 27. fB. a. 1. 165.) 

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



SF 385 
.T46 
Copy 1 



BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 
D. E. SALMON, D. V. M., Chief. 



E^FORMATION 



CONCERNING 



THE ANGOEA GOAT 



BY 



OEOKGE FAYETTE THOMPSON, ^ 

Editorial Clerk, Bureau of Animal Industry. 




(»# 



WASHINGTOlSr: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 
1901, 




Class 
Book 



SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT 



J 



u 



JULLETIN No. 27, B. A. I 



Frontispiece. 




Fig. 1.— Madam Ladysmith, Three Years Old. Fleece, 8 Pounds. 

(Photograph furnished by C P. Bailey & Sons Connpany, San Jose, Cal.j 



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Fig. 2.— Princess Monterey, Ten Months Old. Fleece, 4: Pounds. 

(Photograph fuinishoil by C P. Bailey &c Sons Company, San Jose, Cal.) 



Bulletin -No. 27. 



(B. A. I. 155.) 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE, 

BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTKY. 
D. E. SALMON, D. V. M., Chief. 



INFORMATION 



CONCERNING 



THE ANGORA GOAT 



BY 



GEORGE FAYETTE THOMPSON, 

Editorial Clerk ^ Bureau of Animal Industry. 




WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1901. •: 



e Svtii.. 



'• » > j-» 



OCT 20 1906 
D. of a 



rj^ 






lEnm OF TRANSMITTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

Bureau of Animal Industry, 
Washington, D. C, JVovemher 23, 1900. 
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of an 
article entitled "Information concerning the Angora goat," by Mr. 
George Fayette Thompson, editorial clerk of this Bureau. There is 
much interest in this industry, and the Department receives thousands 
of letters of inquiry concerning Angora goats. An effort is made in 
this manuscript to treat all the topics that have been the subjects of 
these letters of inquiry. 

It is estimated that there are about 400,000 Angora goats in the United 
States, and that our annual production of mohair is over a million 
pounds. It appears, therefore, that the industry should receive some 
attention from this Department, at least in so far as the collection and 
dissemination of information may be concerned, and I recommend 
that this article be published as Bulletin No. 27 of the Bureau of Ani- 
mal Industry. 

Respectfully, D. E. Salmon, 

Chief of Bureau. 
Hon. James Wilson, 

Secretary. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Preliminary remarks 9 

Origin and history 10 

Their history in the United States 13 

Description of the Angora goat 21 

Names of the breed, the sexes, and the meat 24 

Name of the breed 24 

Names of the sexes 25 

Name of the flesh 25 

The uses of Angora goats 26 

Browsing and pasturage 26 

Ability to clear brush land 26 

Browsing supplements feeding 33 

Browsing adds game flavor 33 

Common goats as brush destroyers 33 

Preserving brush land for browsing 33 

Grass and weeds as pasturage 34 

Pasturing with other stock 1 35 

Number of goats to an acre 36 

Mohair 36 

Quality of the fiVjer ; 36 

Influence of age and blood on liber 39 

The weight and length of fleece 39 

Kemp 40 

Other deleterious features 43 

Markets and factories 43 

Production 44 

Manufactures of mohair 44 

The meat and the markets 45 

The meat 45 

The markets 49 

■ The milk : 50 

The skins 51 

Robes, rugs, and trimmings 52 

Protection for sheep 53 

Enrichment of land 53 

Their use as pets 54 

By-products 54 

Localities adapted to Angora culture 54 

Climate 54 

Character of soil 56 

Land available for goat culture 56 

The care of Angora goats 57 

Herding and fencing 58 

Shelter and pens 59 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

The care of Angora goats — Continued. Page. 

Feeding 60 

Salting 62 

Marking - - - 62 

Kidding and the kids 63 

The corral method 64 

The staking method 65 

Weaning 66 

Castration 66 

Opinions of correspondents 66 

The building up and management of a flock of Angora goats. 68 

The best flock 68 

Building up a flock from small beginning 69 

Building up a flock by crossing upon the common goat 69 

Proper age for breeding 70 

In-and-in breeding 71 

Management of the 1 )uck 74 

Number of kids 75 

Size of flocks 75 

Dehorning 76 

Shearing and shedding 76 

Shearing once or twice a year 76 

Use of clipping machines 77 

Care of the fleece after shearing 77 

Shedding 78 

Diseases and other enemies 79 

Number of Angora goats 81 

In the United States 81 

In Cape of Good Hope 81 

In Angora vilayet 82 

Production of mohair 82 

Tariff 82 

Registration associations 83 

Literature consulted „ 83 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Plates. 

Page. 
Frontispiece. Fig. 1, Madam Ladysmith, three years old, fleece 8 pounds; 

fig. 2, Princess Monterey, ten months old, fleece 4J pounds. 
Plate I. Fig. 1, Angora buck (Davis importation, 1849) ; fig. 2, Angora doe 

(Davis importation, 1849) 16 

II. Brush land ' ' before goating " 32 

III. Brush land " during goating" after twelve months 32 

lY. Brush land ' ' after goating ' ' two years 32 

V. Samples of mohair 40 

VI. Does twenty-one months old; fleece of nine months' growth 40 

VII. Fig. 1, Angora buck "Pasha;" fig. 2, a yearling Angora in Cape 

Colony 48 

VIII. Angora goats showing fleeces of seven months' growth 48 

IX. Angora goats in yard; also shows one kind of suitable fence 56 

X. Angora gqat ranch of H. T. Fuchs 56 

XI. Flock of Angora goats at straw stack 64 

XII. Fig. 1, Angora kids; fig. 2, going to pasture (separation of does 

from kids by means of bridge) '. 64 

XIII. Angora goats in rocky pasture 72 

XIV. Angora goats in pasture 72 

XV. Angora goats in pasture 80 

XVI. Angora goats in yard 80 

XVII. Fig. 1, a yearling Angora; fig. 2, shearing Angoras 80 

Text figure. 

Fici. 1, diagram showing age by teeth 71 

7 



INFORMATION CONCERNING THE ANGORA GOAT. 



PRELIMINAEY REMARKS. 

The goat has accompanied civilization into all parts of our country — 
not numerously, but persistently. He is eveiywhere, and is well 
known. There are ver}^ few people who have not seen a goat, and 
there are fewer still, no doubt, who have seen many goats. The comic 
writers, playing upon his peculiar habits, have brought him into dis- 
repute, although these habits, to a large extent, are such as are recom- 
mending him for special favor at this time. His fame is as a denizen 
of vacant lots and back alleys, subsisting upon anything or nothing, 
and a foe to ever}^ thing. So far as the general public is concerned, he 
has not been reckoned with as a useful animal and has been tolerated 
only as a pet for children. 

During more recent years a great interest has been awakened in the 
goat, and it now seems that he is about to receive the consideration 
that is due him. One of the causes contributing to this awakening 
was an article in the Yearbook of this Department for 1898, entitled 
''Keeping goats for profit," by Capt. Almont Barnes, of the Division 
of Statistics of this Department. The information which this article 
contained was widely disseminated. The Yearbook was distributed to 
the extent of half a million copies, and, besides, in order to meet the 
growing demand, the article was reprinted separately and mailed to 
many thousands of inquirers at the Department for information on the 
subject of goats; and not alone the agricultural papers, but the daily 
press as well, took up the matter and exploited the good points of the 
goat industry. The article set forth, among other things, the great 
value of the goatskins which we import annually, and how we ourselves 
might easily produce them; the usefulness of the carcass for food, espe- 
ciall}^ of the Angora breed; the exceedingly small expense involved in 
raising the animal, owing to his habits of feeding upon that vegetation 
which is in greatest abundance and which other ruminants refuse; the 
million of acres of land in the United States that might be made avail- 
able for goat raising which otherwise would remain, as heretofore, 
unemploj^ed. 

The result of this wide distribution soon developed the fact that the 
goat was present in the United States in larger numbers than was sup- 
posed. This is especially true of the Angora breed; in fact, the num- 
ber of common goats in the United States is less than 50,000. Although 



10 BUEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

veiT little has been said or written about Angora goats during the 
last fort}^ 3^ears, the}^ have been extensively bred in the Western States 
and Territories, especially in Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, 
California, and Oregon. In a general sense, all those animals which 
are a cross in any degree of the Angora goat are considered as Angoras, 
for the Angora and the common goat readily cross, and the latter fre- 
quently becomes the foundation stock of a good flock of fleece-bearing 
animals. 

It is the purpose of this article to deal with the Angora goat only, 
and the effort is made to answer. such questions as have been received 
by the Bureau from all parts of the country. These answers are based 
upon the experiences of those who have raised them, some of whom 
have been in the business forty years and more. Differences of opin- 
ion are found to exist on several important points, where each con- 
testant appears to occupy plausible premises; but this is not at all 
strange when the history of the Angora goat is considered, for it is 
not certain that all of the animals imported as purebreds were pure; 
indeed, it is held b}^ some of our leading breeders that there is no 
longer in Turkey or elsewhere any such thing as a purebred Angora 
goat. Besides, there has been no general register for Angora stock 
in the United States until within a year or two, and each breeder has 
been at liberty to judge points for himself. If a general Angora reg- 
ister had been established thirty or forty 3^ears ago, the industry 
would now be conducted upon somewhat definite lines, and most of 
the questions now arising as to points in breeding would have been 
settled. In this connection it should be stated that C. P. Bailey & 
Sons Company, of San Jose, Cal. , have kept a private register of their 
goats since 1867, but there appears to be no other similar record. 

ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 

The purpose of this paper is to give prominence to those phases of 
the Angora goat industry that are of practical importance; therefore 
a brief space onl}^ will be devoted to the history of the breed. 

Naturalists generally agree that there are about ten species of wild 
goats, all confined to Europe and the Himalayas of Asia. These are 
divided into two groups, as follows: 

I. The ibexes. — These, according to Hayes, have, as a distinctive 
characteristic, horns " flat in front, with a horizontal triangular sec- 
tion, furnished with large transversal knots." 

II. Goats proj)eT. — These, according to Hayes, have horns "com- 
pressed and carinated in front," and, according to Wood, "maybe 
distinguished from the ibex and the sheep by the peculiar formation 
of the horns, which are compressed and rounded behind and furnished 
with a well-developed keel in front." 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 11 

The second group is subdivided into two snhs^ecms— Capra fal- 
conerl and Owpra cegagrus. The latter is also known as the Paseng, the 
Bezoar goat, or wild goat of Persia, and is generally accepted as the 
goat from which the Angora is descended through Cajpra hircus^ which 
is claimed to be the origin of all the common breeds of goats. 

As to the parent of the iVngora stock, there is a difference of opinion 
between the two best-known writers on the subject — John L. Hayes, 
author of The Angora Goat, etc. (1882), and S. C. Cronwright 
Schreiner, author of The Angora Goat (1898). The one takes the 
position that it is descended from Cwpra falconeri^ the other from 
Cajpra cegg^grus. Owing to the additional information which has been 
obtained since the appearance of Ha3^es's book and which is embodied 
in Schreiner's work, there can hardly remain a doubt of the correct- 
ness of the contention that the Angora goat descended from Capra 
cegagrus. 

Schreiner, who has made extensive research, has described these 
two subspecies as follows: 

Capra falconerl has a beard which extends from the chin to the shonlders and 
chest, and long spirally twisted horns, the twist being outward from the base. The 
males, when old, become whitish all over. The ewes have a beard confined to the 
chin, and small horns with a slight spiral twist. It is a native of the Western Hima- 
layas, northern Afghanistan, and possibly of Persia; it is also found generally in 
Cashmere and on the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. Fossil remains show that it 
is one of the oldest types of goats. 

Capra xgagrus'^ is chiefly remarkable for its enormous horns, which are larger pro- 
portionally than in any other ruminant animal; they approximate the triangular in 
form, transversely rigid, and are bent backward as in the domestic varieties, being 
scimitar-like in shape of curve, and having no spiral twist. Large horns of Capra 
segagrns measure 40 inches along the curve, but a length of upward of 52 J inches, with 
a basal girth of 7 inches, has been recorded. It stands somewhat higher than any of 
the domesticated varieties of the goat (an adult male stood 37 inches at the withers), 
from which it further differs in its short and powerful neck, its stouter limbs, and 
slender body. In the female the horns are exceedingly diminutive or are altogether 
wanting. The fur, which over the greater part of the body is short, is of a grayish 
brown color, with a black line running along the entire length of the back, while 
the under surface of the neck and the beard, which is present in both sexes, are of a 
brown color. In the winter coat the hair on the neck and shoulders is rather longer 
than elsewhere, and in the same season, in the colder part of the animal's habitat, a 
coat of woolly fur is developed beneath the hair. 

^ There is evidence that in classic times this goat was widely distributed over the 
Grecian Archii:)elago, although in Europe it is now found only in Crete, the island 
of Antemelo, in the Cyclades, and perhaps also in Guire to the northeast of Euboea. 
Eastward it is found in the hills and mountains of Asia Minor, being especially com- 
mon in the Taurus range, and it extends thence through Persia into Baluchistan, 
Sind, and Afghanistan. In India its range does not extend beyond the western side 
of Sind. It is found in Sind and Baluchistan in hills a little above the sea level; in 
the mountains of Persia it ascends to an elevation of 11,000 feet to 12,000 feet. — 
Schreiner. 



12 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

The Angora breed of goats originated in the vilaj^et of Angora, in 
Asia Minor, but it is not known when this was. Some have ventured 
to say that it was 2,400 3"ears ago. There is prett}^ strong evidence 
which goes to show^ that the}^ were a distinctive breed when Moses was 
leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Goats' hair was spun by the 
Israelites for curtains and other purposes for use in the temple.^ In 
the stor}^ recorded in I Samuel (chapter 19) of the artifice of Michal in 
deceiving the messengers of Saul by placing an image in the bed in 
place of David and giving it a pillow of goats' hair, is believed b}^ Pen- 
nant to refer to a pillow made of the Angora fleece. 

The city Angora, or Enguri, the capital cit}^ of the vilayet of Angora, 
is the ancient Ancyra, and is located about 220 miles south by south- 
east from Constantinople. Angora was the seat of one of the earliest 
Christian churches, and was probably established by the Apostle Paul. 
The province is mountainous to a considerable extent and furrowed by 
deep vallej^s. It is about 2,900 feet above the level of the sea. Of the 
climate Mr.H. A. Cumberbatch, British consul at Angora (1895), and 
quoted b}^ Schreiner, says: 

The climate is extreme. In the months of January and February the thermometer 
will mark a minimum of 10° F. for several days at a time, reach as far as 0° F. , whilst 
in June and July the maximum readings of 85° F. are maintained day after day, with 
Httle or no rain. The country is covered with snow in the winter, rain and snow 
falling frequently. In 1894 the total rainfall at Angora was 8.12 inches, but that was 
an exceptionally dry season. For the first six months of 1895 the rainfall was 10.10 
inches, which is somewhat above the average; the heaviest rainfall in twenty-four 
hours having been 1,20 inches. 

It was here that this famous goat reached its perfection — and such 
a state of perfection as has not yet been reached by the goats of either 
the Cape of Good Hope or the United States. That the altitude, the 
soil, or the climate, or all of them together, had much influence in 
producing this fleece-bearing goat is supported by strong evidence. 
Dr. John Bachman and the Encyclopaedia Britannica both state that 
the fineness of the hair of the Angora goat may perhaps be ascribed 
to some peculiarity in the atmosphere, ' ' for it is remarkable that the 
cats, dogs, sheep, and other animals of the countiy are to a certain 
extent affected in the same way as the goats." The same opinion was 

^Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing 
heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, 
and purple, and scarlet, and tine linen, and goats' hair. — Exodus xxxv, 5, 6, 

And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine 
linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them. — 
Exodus xxxv, 23. 

And all the w^omen whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair. — 
Exodus xxxv, 26. 

And he made curtains of goats' hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains 
he made them. The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the 
l)readth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size. — Exodus xxxvi, 14, 15. 



THE ANGOEA GOAT. 13 

expressed by Captain Conolly, quoted by Southey (18-i8): ''It is 
remarkable that wherever these goats exist the eats and greyhounds 
have long silky hair also — the cats all over their bodies, the grey- 
hounds chiefly on their ears and tails. " These statements lead Schreiner 
to the conclusion that the atmosphere is the chief factor. He says: 
"At any rate, there seems to be no doubt that a limited and compara- 
tively well-defined region around the town of Angora jDossesses in a 
degree unapproached elsewhere in Asia Minor, and proba]>ly in the 
world, those conditions favorable to the development of the soft, silky, 
lustrous white mohair goat." Too much credit must not be given to 
the atmosphere of Angora in the production of mohair. That it has 
a marked influence on animals anywhere is generally accepted. The 
experience of the Angora breeders of the Cape of Good Hope and the 
United States shows that, with the best animals, a fleece equal to 
any produced by Turkey may be obtained. There are other and 
stronger reasons why the mohair of these two countries is not equal 
to that of Angora province, chief among which is the adulteration of 
the blood. Besides, the breeders of this country have learned that the 
feed of the animal has a telling influence on the quality of the mohair 
in the same way that it has a pronounced effect upon the meat. 

Mr. Henry O. Binns, who had about twenty years of experience 
with these goats in the vilayet of Angora, says the pure animals were 
about bred out in 1863. The reason for this was the extensive cross- 
ing with the common Kurd goat, reference to which has already been 
made. As early as 1839 there ceased to be a demand for the spun yarn 
of Asia Minor, owing to the fact that Europe could spin the yarn at 
much less cost; lijut there was a European demand for the raw hair 
wdiich exceeded the supply. This condition of things led to complica- 
tions and a mixture of breeds from which the mohair world has not 
yet recovered. There can hardly remain a doubt, however, that, with 
the recent renewed interest in the industry, and with the intelligence 
that the breeders will bring to bear, the Angora goat industry will 
soon be placed on the highest plane. 

THEIR HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The history of the Angora goat in the United States has been marred 
by the carelessness or ' Iference of occasional writers for the press 
who have been often irr^ rate as to dates or facts, and also by others 
whose interests have uijuotless led them into exaggerations. The real 
facts of its history in the United States, however, are so few and so 
simple as to prompt that venerable breeder, William M. Landrum, to 
say that they would make but a very small book. 

During the Administration of President Polk, the Sultan of Turkey 
requested of him that he recommend some one who would experi- 
ment in the culture of cotton in Turkey. Accordingly, Dr. James 



14 BUREAU OF AIS^IMAL INDUSTRY. 

B. Davis, of Columbia, S. C, was recommended, and he received the 
appointment. The work done by Dr. Davis appeared to be highly 
gratifying to the Sultan, and so, upon his return, in 1849, the Sultan, 
desiring to reciprocate the courtesy of the President, presented him 
with nine of the choicest goats in his dominion. Col. Richard Peters, 
writing in 1876, says of these animals: "These doubtless were selected 
from the herds of Angora, a district of country lying among the 
Taurus Mountains, which traverse Asiatic Turkey, and which derives 
its name from its principal city, situated about 200 miles east of Con- 
stantinople." It does not seem, therefore, that Dr. Davis encountered 
any great difficulty in securing this first importation of Angora goats 
into this country; but the following extract from the Country Gentle- 
man of 1856, somewhat romantic and a little exciting, was signed by 
one Richard Allen, of Tennessee. The article, in full, shows that he 
was probably of that class of writers of history whose personal interests 
were to be subserved: 

It may not be out of place in this connection to remark that great credit is due to 
Dr. Davis, of South Carolina, for the enterprise he exhibited in the introduction of 
the goat to this country. He was at the time in the employ of the Turkish Govern- 
ment, at a salary of |15,000, engaged in experiments upon the growing of cotton in 
the Sultan's dominions. He went out upon the recommendation of President Polk, 
to whom an application was made by the Turkish Government for the services of 
some competent Southern gentleman familiar with cotton culture. While there he 
determined to procure the goat from its native wilds. The story of the journey would 
be too tedious for my Ijrief letter, and I will merely add that, with an expensive outfit 
at Constantinople, a perilous journey of months, and the loss of many men and camels, 
he succeeded in capturing and carrying off eleven of the famous animals, whose fleeces, 
in the shape of shawls, are so highly prized and coveted by the ladies of all civilized 
nations and for which prices almost startling have been paid by the wealthy. 

Such a tale of fortitude and determination, added to the information 
in another paragraph in the same letter Avhich stated that the entire 
yield of the particular flock about which hej^vas then writing had been 
engaged in the city of New York at 18.50 per pound, from which 
point it was to be shipped to Paisle}^ Scotland, for manufacture into 
the shawls mentioned above, no doubt assisted in the sale of goats at 
$1,000 each. 

In 1863, Hon. George A. Porter, of Baltimore, himself a breeder 
of Angoras, wrote to Mr. Diehl that, while occupying the post of 
United States consul at Constantinople, he "procured and shipped for 
Dr. Davis the first of these goats that were ever brought to this coun- 
try." Just how much Mr. Porter was acting upon the courtesy of the 
Sultan it is difficult to ascertain. 

Of the nine Angoras imported by Dr. Davis, seven were does and 
two were bucks. Besides these, according to Colonel Peters, there 
came in the same lot one purebred Tibet doe, several head of crosses 
between the Angora and Tibet goats, and quite a number of grade 
does bred from the common short-haired ewes of the countr}^ and his 
Angora bucks. Plate I shows a pair of the Angoras imported by Dr. 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 15 

Davis. The first is a buck, weighing 155 pounds and canying a fleece 
of 7 pounds; the second is a doe, weighing 102 pounds, carrying a 
fleece of li pounds. These pictures appeared in the Country Gentle- 
man in 1856 and were furnished that paper by Col. Richard Peters, 
who was at that time the owner of the goats. Dr. Davis, not being 
familiar with goats, thought these were the famous Cashmere goats 
which furnished the fiber for the costly Cashmere shawl, and they 
were called Cashmere goats for man}^ years after their introduction 
into the United States. The records show that as late as 1861 Mr. 
William M. Landrum, the veteran breeder of Angoras, was awarded a 
silver goblet and $25 in cash for the introduction of the first Cash- 
meres [Angoras] into California. Hon. Israel S. Diehl, writing on 
"The Goat" in the Annual Report of this Department for 1863, gives 
descriptions of different varieties of Angoras in Asia Minor, among 
which was one variety which might very easily be mistaken for the 
Cashmere. He sa^-s: 

There is also a second or other variety of Angora, or shawl, goat besides those gen- 
erally described. This goat has an unchanging outer cover of long, coarse hair, 
between the roots of which comes in winter an undercoat of downy wool that is 
naturally thrown off in spring or is carefully combed out for use. A remarkably fine 
species of this breed exists througliout the area to which the white-haired goat is 
Hmited, and similar breeds prevail all over the highlands of Turkish and Persian 
Armenia, Koordistan, and at Kirman; and, although some flocks yield finer fleeces 
than others, it is called the same wool or under down as the wool of Cashmere and 
Tibet, and samples of the wool of the Tibetan and the double-wooled goat of the 
banks of the Euxine show them to be but varieties of the same species. 

This goat is of a larger size than those of the more southern Turkish provinces and 
its wool finer, and is the variety probably introduced by Dr. Davis from Asia j\Iinor 
as the Cashmere, and now erroneously so called throughout the comitry, as all the 
importations of thi^ country, as far as we can learn, were shipped from ports on the 
Mediterranean or Constantinople, several thousand miles from Cashmere or Tibet, 
through inhospitable and almost untraveled countries for Europe.ans, M^hich goes far 
to prove the so-called ' ' Cashmere goat ' ' to be the Angora. 

Mr. Diehl, in the same article mentioned above, describes the Cash- 
mere goat. The difference between it and the Angora of our country 
will be seen to be distinct. The similarity of the variety of Angora 
described above and the Cashmere is marked, especially in respect of 
the downy undercoat. His description of the Cashmere is as follows: 

This variety of the wool-bearing or shawl goat, as it is often called, is spread over 
Tibet, Northern India, and the regions to the east of the Caspian Sea. It is some- 
what smaller than the common and Angora goat. It has straight, round, pointed 
horns, pendent ears; is covered with straight and falling long, fine, flat, silky hair, 
with an undercoat in winter of a delicate greenish wool, of but 2 to 3 ounces 
each, which latter alone constitutes the fabric from which the celebrated shawls are 
made. Ten goats furnish only enough for a shawl li yards square; but this is often 
found differing both in color and the quality of the wool, or rather the fine hair, of 
which the fleece is composed. The principal points in the most approved breeds are 
large ears, the limbs slender and cleanly formed, the horns not spirally twisted, and, 
above all, the fleece being long, straight, fleecy, and white. 



16 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

This .soft undercoat of the Cashmere is known as "pashiim," and is 
the product from which the famous Cashmere shawl was made. Mr. 
William M. Landrum, who was probably the first in this countr}^ to 
discover that our so-called Cashmere goat was the Angora instead, 
through investigations made about 1861, also states that there is a 
difference between the Cashmere shawl and the Paisley shawl. These 
are often referred to as being the same 'shawl. While the filling of 
both shawls was of pashum, the chain of the latter was made from the 
kid fleece of the Angora. Pashum is combed out in the spring, and 
is worth, when cleaned, in the country where it is produced, from 
$1.50 to |2 per pound. A writer in the Penny Magazine (London) in 
1838 says: 

The wool is first combed from the animal in the mountains of Tibet, where it is 
sold for nearly 5 shillings a pound. It is packed in baskets and sent to Cashmere, 
where it pays a duty on entry. It is there bleached with rice flour, spun into 
threads, and taken to the bazaar, w^here another tax is paid upon it. The thread is 
then dyed, the shawl is woven, and the border sewed on. 

So much for the Cashmere goat. 

The first (or Davis) importation of Angoras was frequent!}^ exhibited 
at fairs, and alwa3^s attracted much attention. The reports made by 
the ofiicials of fair associations were always favorable, sometimes flat- 
tering, and as is known, after years of experience, not always correct. 
The United States Agricultural Society, which held an exhibition in 
Philadelphia in 1856, awarded to Col. Richard Peters, who was then 
the owner of the Davis goats, llOO as a special reward. The following 
report was made upon the animals: 

They have become known as Cashmere goats from the pure white color and fine- 
ness of their fieeces, and their undoubted Eastern origin. The fleeces from the bucks 
w^eigh from 6 to 7 pounds, those from the ewes from 3 to 4 pounds. The flesh of the 
crosses is superior to most mutton, tender and delicious, making them a desirable 
acquisition to our food-producing animals. 

The ease with which they are kept, living as they do on weeds, briers, browse, and 
other coarse herbage, fits them for many portions of our country where sheep can 
not be sustained to advantage, while their ability and disposition to defend them- 
selves against dogs evidence a value peculiar to this race. They are free from all dis- 
eases to which sheep are liable, hardy and prolific, and experience has proven that 
they readily adapt themselves to all portions of the United States. The bucks breed 
readily with the common goats, the second cross yielding a fleece of practical utility, 
whilst the fourth is but little inferior to that of the pure breed. 

A flock of valuable wool- bearing goats can be raised in a few years by using grade 
bucks. 

The following extract is from a report of the special committee 
appointed by the American Institute at its exhibition in New York 
City in 1855: 

They have examined with much interest the fleece submitted to them, and as well 
from their own observations as from the results of a microscopic examination made 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 17 

and certified to by several gentlemen of scientific eminence well known to them, they 
are convinced that the fiber of these fleeces is identical in character, and fully equal 
in value, to that from which the highly prized Cashmere shawls were made. The 
fleeces on exhibition, and now under examination, amount to from 4 to 8 pounds 
each. 

The enterprise exhibited by the introduction of these animals into this country 
and their propagation can not be too highly regarded. 

First. These animals are long lived, such being the case with the wdiole goat race. 

Second. They are prolific, breeding at the age of 1 year, with a period of gestation 
of about five months, and yielding twins almost universally after the first birth. 

Third. They are hardy, experience having shown that they will thrive well in our 
climate from Georgia to New England, and that they require coarse and cheap food — 
as the inferior grasses, briers, bushes, etc. — such as is refused by other grazing 
animals. 

Fourth. They produce a fleece of from 4 to 8 pounds, valued at from $6 to |8 per 
pound in France, or Paisley, Scotland, for the manufacture of those high-priced 
shawls. These fleeces can be produced, when the animals become numerous, at a 
less cost than the common sheep's wool and far superior to it. 

Another fact of great practical value to our agricultural interests is the facility with 
which the Cashmere goats breed with the common goats of our country. 

From these and other considerations, of the correctness of which your committee 
have entire confidence, it will be obvious that every encouragement should be shown 
this new enterprise — a bold and judicious movement. 

B. P. Johnson. 
Charles J. Goodrich. 
James J. Mapes. 

A committee for the New York State fair, held iu New York City 
in 1854, reported as follows: 

The undersigned can not avoid the conclusion that in the goats imported, and 
whose descendants have been the subjects of this examination, we have the first- 
known specimens of that valuable race of animals from whose hairy fleece the cele- 
brated shawls are manufactured known in commerce by the inappropriate name of 
"red camel's hair." As the fleece does not appear to have deteriorated in the com- 
paratively warm climate of South Carolina, the distinctive character of the race is 
hard to be obliterated, while in the northern region of the United States this char- 
acter can not well fail to be permanent. Viewed in this light, the introduction of 
this animal promises to be of more value to the agriculture of the United States than 
that of almost any other animal. 

James Ken wick. 

Joseph R. Chilton. 

W. H. Ellet. 

Many other similar reports were made by committees of fair asso- 
ciations about that time, but those quoted serve to show how favorably 
goats were regarded. It should be stated here, however, that there 
are in these reports many erroneous statements. For instance, the 
goat is not the Cashmere; they drop twins occasionally only, and their 
fleece never did bring as high as $6 to $8 a pound. 

All of the Davis importation of purebred Angoras were purchased 
in 1853 by Col. Richard Peters, of Atlanta, Ga., with the exception 
11786— No. 27—01 2 



18 BUEEAU OF ATSriMAL INDUSTRY. 

of one owned by Col. Wade Hampton, of South Carolina; one sold by 
Dr. Davis to Mr. Davenport, of Virginia, and one to Mr. Osborne, of 
New York. Colonel Peters later imported others from Asia Minor, 
which did not prove to be very satisfactory, as they were gummy. 
The Savannah Republican in April, 1860, said that Colonel Peters was 
selling his goats at very high prices, having received $1,500 for one 
buck; that the president of an Illinois fair was so pleased with one of 
the bucks on exhibiton there that he offered Colonel Peters "the 
weight of the buck in silver for it.*' Colonel Peters is looked upon 
as the real founder of the Angora goat industry in the countr3^ 
Although Dr. Davis had crossed the Angoras with common goats to 
some extent, it was Colonel Peters who demonstrated the possibility 
of erecting an excellent fleece-bearing flock by judicious crossing with 
common goats. Other importers were Hon. W. H. Stiles (1860), 8 
head; Diehl & Brown (1869), of Ohio, of 135 head; Price Maurice,^ of 
Australia (1870, 1871, 1872, 1873), who imported 16 bucks and 168 
does for his sons, who were settled at Fort Clark, Tex. ; John S. Har- 
ris (1876), then of California, now of Oakley, Idaho; C. W. Chenery 
(1867), of Massachusetts. A. Euty chides (1869?), a native of the prov- 
ince of Angora, brought over a flock numbering 175 and made a vig- 
orous effort to bring them more largely to the notice of the American 
public. After several years of doubtful success he returned to the 
Old World to engage in farming in Thessal} . 

John S. Harris says that, with the exception of Hon. Israel S. Diehl, 
he is the onh' man who ever went into the province of Angora for the 
mohair goat; other goats that were imported came through agents. 

These are about all of the earlier importations from Asia Minor. Of 
recent years some excellent individuals have been brought from Cape 
Colon}^ Turkey has since 1881 prohibited the exportation of Angoras, 
and Cape Colony, observing with jealous eye the rapid progress now 
being made in the United States, has placed an export duty upon 
Angoras of £100 ($486.65). W. Hammond Tooke, writing of the 
mohair industry of Cape Colony in the Agricultural Journal of the 
Cape of Good Hope, says they have nothing to fear from Turkey or 
Australia, but that the United States gives them more concern, as the 
breeding of Angoras for mohair is no longer considered an experiment 
in the United States. 

Previous to the outbreak of the civil war there were many fair- 
sized flocks in the South and Southwest. There were smaller flocks 
in many of the Northern and Western States. Mr. Diehl, in 1863, 
mentions flocks containing from 300 to 1,200 and more in Atlanta, Ga. ; 
Gallatin and Nashville, Tenn.; Russellville, Frankfort, Paris, and 

^ This statement is made upon the authority of Gustav A. Hoerle; but C. P. Bailey 
says he has never been able to verify the presence of this importation in Texas, and 
I am informed that Col. W. L. Black, of Texas, also fails to locate them. — G. F. T. 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 19 

Georgetown, Ky. ; Greenville, Lebanon, Montgomery, and Eucyrus, 
Ohio; Green County, Ind. ; Chicago, Decatur, and Evanston, 111.; St. 
Louis, Maramee, and Fayette, Mo. ; Baltimore, Md. ; Leavenworth, 
Kans. ; Brownsville, Pittsburg, Washington, and Philadelphia, Pa.; 
New York City, N. Y. ; Boston and Belmont, Mass. ; Austin, Tex. ; and 
in the States of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, California, and in other 
localities. So it will be observed that they were so distributed as to 
test in a most excellent manner the several phases of our climate upon 
them. On account of the civil war, however, little or no progress was 
made in the South, where the largest herds were located and where 
most interest was manifested, until about 1866. Soon after the close 
of the war they spread out into the West, principally into Texas and 
California, where the natural conditions were most favorable, and 
where they have, quite unknown to the public, increased wonderfully 
in numbers and, in the light of recent events, in importance also. 

In the spring of 1861 Colonel Peters sold two 16-months-old bucks 
to William M. Landrum, of San eloaquin County, Cal. They were 
sent from Atlanta to St. Louis by express ; thence by steamer to 
Fort Leavenworth, and thence on foot to California with a wagon 
train. They subsisted on the journey by browsing on what other ani- 
mals rejected, and arrived at their destination uninjured and in good 
condition. Mr. Landrum exhibited them at the State fair the same 
year, being awarded a silver goblet and $25 in cash. One of the goats, 
after siring about thirty kids, died of snake bite; the other one, famous 
on the Pacific coast under the name of "Billy Atlanta," lived to be 10 
years old, and then was accidentally killed. He had sired about two 
thousand kids. This buck won the sweepstakes prize over all compet- 
itors at every State fair down to his death; and Colonel Peters stated 
in 1876 that his numerous descendants were scattered all along- the 
Pacific coast, and that "his blood courses in the veins of oyer one-half 
the Angora flocks in that part of the Union, estimated to approximate 
70,000." Colonel Peters further stated "that about one-third of the 
purebreds introduced into California were contributed from the first 
and original (Davis) importation of 1849, and that their blood is pres- 
ent in probably two-thirds or three-fourths of the Angora stock on the 
Pacific coast." 

Mr. Landrum was in California from 1850 to 1883, after which time 
he went to Texas. He is now at Laguna, Uvalde County, Tex. , and, 
with his sons, is still interested in the Angora goat industry. The 
Chenery importation was shipped by the British consul in Angora to 
Constantinople, where they were sorted by Mr. John R. Thompson and 
the American consul, and shipped by a sailing vessel to Boston. 

Ten head of the Chenery importation were taken to California and 
disposed of as follows: A pair to C. P. Bailey, San Jose, at |500each; 
a pair to Thomas Butte rfield & Son, Watsonville; a pair to William 
M. Landrum, San Joaquin County; a pair to Mr. Pierson, Santa Cruz; 
and a pair to Flint & Sargent, Monterey County. This lot was the 



20 BUEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

beginning of the breeding of thoroughbred Angoras in California. 
Prior to this but two Angora bucks had been taken into the State — 
the two which were sent by Peters to Landrum. 

The Diehl and Brown importation was first taken to Ohio; and 
afterwards the entire lot, it is believed, was taken to California, where 
the goats were widely disseminated through the State, some of them 
bringing as much as $200 a head. 

In 1875 William Hall bought of Butterfield & Son their entire flock 
of 150 goats for about $17,000. The same year John S. Harris joined 
Hall as a partner, and the following year went to Turkey and purchased 
ten does and two bucks. These also went to California. It is said 
that the blood of this importation was felt beneficialh^ in every good 
flock in the State. 

In 1893 C. P. Baile}^ imported from South Africa two bucks. Pasha 
(see PL YII) was one of these, and his get has been sent to nearly 
ever}^ State in the Union. In 1899 Mr. Baile^Muiported another buck 
from Cape Town. This animal is the last importation into the United 
States. 

The statement has alread}^ been made that the first goats taken to 
California were purchased of Colonel Peters b}^ Mr. Landrum. In 
1872 Mr. Landrum purchased all the goats under 8 years of age which 
Colonel Peters then owned and took them to California. 

Mr. Julius Weyand, secretary of the Angora Goat Breeders' Asso- 
ciation of California, in a report to that organization in 1891, gives a 
brief review of the industry in that State. He says that in 1885 there 
were about 100,000 Angora goats in California, but between that date 
and 1889, owing to the admission into the United States of mohair as 
carpet wool, and thus paying but 2i cents duty per pound, the number 
decreased to 55,000. Mr. C. P. Bailey is authority for the statement 
that practically all the goats in California are of the Angora breed. 

Laro-e flocks of Angforas have been sent from California and Texas 
into Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, where they have been divided 
into smaller flocks and become the property of many difi'erent farmers. 
Texas has also sent many over into New Mexico. 

Although the foregoing facts show that the Angora goats have been 
slow in gaining a standing among the industries of the country, it can 
hardly be doubted that there are now in motion such energies as will 
place the industry upon a rational basis. It is believed that the Angora 
industry is already emerging from the chaos which has enveloped it 
for fifty years past, and that it will soon be as firmly established as 
any other stock interest in the United States. A recent issue of Wool 
Markets and Sheep says: 

After careful review of the situation, past and present, the Angora goat industry o^ 
this country we clearly conceive is destined to be one of very great importance in our 
agricultural economy. Our broad acres and diversified geological and climatic con- 
ditions give ample scope and abundant suitable conditions for the carrying on of the 
business to a large extent and profitable issue. 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 21 

DESCRIPTION OF THE ANGORA GOAT. 

Mr. Israel 8. Diehl, bearing a eonimission from the Coiiiiiiissioner 
of Aoriculture, visited the province of Angora in 18(17 to investigate 
the mohair industry. Here, where there were once in operation 1,700 
to 1,800 looms working up the mohair fleeces, he found but a few hun- 
dred remaining, struggling hopelesslv against the fatal competition of 
European machinery and the aggressive polic}' of the European Gov- 
ernments. The fleeces were exported to Europe for fabrication, thus 
rendering Turkey tributary to the monopoly then existing in this 
industry in Europe. The European demand for the raw material was 
so great and the facilities to fabricate it so much better and cheaper 
that Turkey was compelled to export the raw mohair. In order to 
meet the demands for manufactured mohair the Turkish growers, 
without wise foresight, began the practice of crossing the Angora 
upon the common Kurd goat of that country. The inevitable result 
of such a policy was to bring about to a large extent the conditions 
which have obtained in the United States, namely, a breed of Angoras 
of uncertain purity. This fact, coupled with the belief that proper 
care was not exercised in selecting the animals exported to this coun- 
try and that they have been carelessly bred here, has led some excel- 
lent judges of Angoras to express the belief that there are really no 
purebred Angoras in the United States. 

These conditions have produced various types of Angoras, even in 
Asia Minor, and a minute description of one would not apply to all. 
Some strains have fox-like ears, while others and generally preferred 
ones have long pendent ears. In this country care must alwa3^s be 
exercised to cull the oficolored kids out of the flock. These ma}^ be 
the result of ataAdsm, Avhere a cross was made upon a common goat 
either red or black; but it is reported by some that different colors are 
found in the province of Angora among what were supposed to be 
purebred animals. Mr. Gustav A. Hoerle, one time corresponding 
secretary of the American Mohair Growers' Association, and an author- 
ity of note on Angora goats, mentions having yellow and red goats in 
his own herd, and said that "some of the kids became quite a variety 
show." 

Mr. S. C. Cronwright Schreiner, of Cape Colony, in his excellent 
work on "The Angora Goat," has compiled the descriptions of almost 
all writers on Angora goats. He quotes Mr. Henry O. Binns, who 
spent twenty years in the mohair districts of Asia Minor between 1861: 
and 1880, and who studied them during that time, as follows: 

The pure Angora in his prime is about the size of a five-months-old Cape [Cape of 
Good Hope] kid, with small thin horns, wooled all over the body, their hair almost 
covering the eyes; exceedingly delicate, and so subject to disease that no one cared 
to keep him. What is to-day called the purebred Angora is like the English thor- 
oughbred horse — the result of crossing and recrossing until body, class, points, etc., 
have attained to what is generally considered that the thoroughbred Angora ought 
to be. 



22 BUKEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTEY. 

Mr. Schreiner's opinion of what a purebred Angora is, given on 
page 58 of his book, is as follows: 

I think it is certain that the original purebred white mohair goat was a small, very 
refined, delicate animal, of great beauty, clipping at twelve-months' growth of fleece 
about from 2 to 4 pounds (according to age and sex — kids considerably less) of 
dazzling Avhite, fine, soft, silky, very lustrous mohair, curling in ringlets from 10 to 18 
inches long, with merely the minimum of oil in its fleece requisite to the growth of 
hair of the highest excellence, so small in amount as to be inappreciable to the 
unskilled observer. It was perfectly clothed in every part; it had short, silky, curly 
hair about the face and down the lower parts of the legs to the hoofs; a soft, silky, 
curly "kuif" (tuft on the forehead), and small, thin, light-colored horns. The ewe 
was of course smaller and finer than the ram, and had only one kid at a birth (of 
this there is abundant evidence). 

Although Mr. Schreiner thinks the Davis importation to this country 
was among the best bred goats that ever left Turkey, it will be noticed 
from the pictures of two of them shown herein (see PI. I, p. 16), 
which were said ])y Colonel Peters to be excellent, that the mohair 
does not extend "down the lower parts of the legs to the hoofs." It 
is doubtful if an}^ such Angoras may be found existing at this time, 
however probable they might have been in their original purit3\ 

The following is quoted from Dr. John Bachman,^ of Charleston, 
S. C, who was appointed by the Southern Central Agricultural 
Association of Georgia to report on the Angoras belonging to Colonel 
Peters, of Atlanta: 

The Angora goat, more especially the varieties it has produced, is described by 
Hasselquist (1722-1752), Buffon (1707-1788), Pennant (1726-1798), and others as in 
general of a beautiful milk-white color, with short legs, and black, spreading, spirally 
twisted horns. The hair on the whole body is disposed in long pendent spiral ringlets; 
its ears are pendulous, and the horns of the female, instead of divaricating as in the 
male, turn backward, and are much shorter in proportion. 

Mr. DiehP (1863), adopting to some extent the same language as 
Dr. Bachman used, describes the Angora as follows: 

The Angora goat, and more especially the varieties it has produced, are prol)ably 
the most valuable of all the goat family, and have been ably described by Naturalists 
Buffon, Pennant, Hasselquist, and travelers as good-sized animals, generally of a 
beautiful milk-white color, with short legs and wide-spreading, spirally-twisted 
horns. The wool is described as a very beautiful curled or wavy hair of silvery 
whiteness, with a fine downy wool at its base, and this hair is disposed in long, 
pendent, spiral ringlets on the whole body. The horns of the female, instead of 
spreading, as in the male, turn backward, and are much shorter in proportion. 
Those of the male are long, spirally twisted, but the size and direction are very 
different from the common goat, being generally extended from 15 to 30 inches in 
height on each side of the head, while those of the female are near the ears. The 
hair, or wool, often sweeps to the ground, and is usually from 5 to 12 inches long, 
especially in the older bucks, but then not so fine. 

This brief description, he said, applied to all the Angoras which he 
saw in western Asia, Europe, and in this country, which amounted to 

^ "Report on Asiatic Goats," United States Agricultural Report, 1857, p. 58. 
'' " The Goat," United States Agricultural Report, 1863, p. 222. 



THE ANGOEA GOAT. 28 

several thousands, except as to a difference in ears, for, while some had 
pendent ears, others which he examined had ears exceedingl}^ small 
and short. 

Mr. Diehl also mentions a variety of this goat in Angora which was 
hornless. There is reason to believe that an intelligent system of 
breeding would produce such result. Such an end has been attained 
with cattle and is entirely feasible with goats. 

In this connection, interest will be manifested in a note from Col. 
William L. Black, of Fort McKavett, Tex. , who says he has an inter- 
est in a flock of hornless Angoras in Iowa. He says that there is no 
doubt that it is a "distinct breed." His experiment the first season 
was seven hornless kids from eight does with horns, and the second 
season (1900) he raised "fully 90 per cent of hornless kids." Horn- 
less Angoras, however, were not very rare in Asia Minor, and it 
may be that there were some in the vilayet of Angora. The}^ were 
called Kastamoonee^ Angoras, taking the name from the vilaj^et of 
that name. The vila3^et joins that of Angora on the north and forms 
a part of the northern boundary of Asia Minor. Several 3^ears ago 
Mr. William M. Landrum imported one of these Angoras. He was 
known as " Hornless Johnnie." Mr. Landrum was not ver}^ proud of 
this animal, as would appear by this from his pen in 1899: 

He sheared 10 pounds at six months, but his hair was too coarse for anything but 
wigs. I bred him to a lot of purebred Angora ewes and got the best lot of bucks 
for low-grade ewes that I ever saw; got $50 premium for them over purebred 
Angoras. I paid |2,000 for him, and lost him the second year. If he had lived I 
would have injured my purebred flock with him. As it was, I killed for mutton 
several ewes got by him from purebred ewes to get them out of the flock. I could 
not certify them to be pure Angoras. 

It is to be hoped that Colonel Black's efforts to originate a hornless 
variety will produce better results than were obtained from Hornless 
Johnnie. Of course, the presence or absence of horns need not neces- 
sarily have an}^ influence upon the qualities of a goat. 

Probably the best description of the American Angora is that given 
by Mr. Gustav A. Hoerle, which is given below. Reference is to 
first-class animals, and not to grades of various degrees: 

The body should be long, and the rounder the better; the back straight, with 
shoulders and hips equally high from the ground; shoulders and quarters heavy and 
fleshy; chest broad, indicating good constitution; the legs should be short and strong; 
the head is in shape like that of a common goat, but less coarse and cleaner cut; the 
horns are heavy, with an inward twist, inclining backward and to the outside. 

Except just the face and legs, from the hocks and knees down, the entire animal 
should be densely covered with mohair, and neither the belly nor the throat nor 
even the lower part of the jaws should be bare, but should have a good covering of 
fine, silky mohair, and with the finest specimens the mohair tuft on the forehead 
should be well developed. The mohair should hang in long, curly ringlets. How- 
ever, not every Angora goat which shows these perfectly curly ringlets of the mohair 

^ This name is variously spelled — Kastamoonee (preferred by Lippincott), Kasta- 
mouni, Kastamuni, Castambool, Castambul, Costambone. 



24 BUKEAU OF AT^IMAL INDUSTRY. 

must necessarily be considered a thoroughbred; whilst, on the other hand, there are 
quite a number of really handsome and valuable thoroughbreds whose hair has not 
that much-desired shape, owing entirely to climatic and nutrimental influences, as 
well as to advancing age. Thoroughbreds and all nonshedding grades can easily be 
recognized by the peculiar shape of "points" of their mohair, each end showing 
plainly that it has been " cut off," instead of running gradually to what is called a 
"steeple point," which is found with the hair of all kids and of shedding grade 
Angoras. The plainer and longer this blunt point shows toward the end of the year 
the better is the fiber of the mohair, and the more valuable is the hair for comb- 
ing purposes and the smaller the percentage of noilage and waste. After shedding, 
as well as nonshedders after shearing, the mohair grows very rapidly for some 
months. It grows slower toward the end of the year, and, with very bad cHmatic 
and nutrimental influences, almost stops growing entirely. Therefore, if the late fall 
shearing is practiced, Angoras need good care during winter. The more even in 
length and quality the mohair is on all parts of an Angora body the better. When 
in full fleece the body of a fine thoroughbred Angora should appear like a right- 
angled square, with no gaps or deficiencies of covering, especially below the belly. 

Mr. Hoerle is encountering some opposition to his ideas of the non- 
shedding varieties. Because of this difference of opinion the Bureau 
submitted the question, "Do thoroughbreds (fourth cross or above) 
shed if not sheared? " to a large number of the breeders of the coun- 
try. A summary of the replies received is given elsewhere (see p. 79). 

A characteristic of the common goat that is very objectionable is 
the ever-present offensive odor from the bucks; in the Angora breed 
this odor is entirely absent, except at the rutting season, and then it 
is noted in a slight degree only. The odor in a fleece of mohair is 
milder than that in a wool fleece, and is not at all offensive. 

NAMES OF THE BREED, THE SEXES, AND THE MEAT. 
NAME OF THE BREED. 

There was no difficulty in dropping the name "Cashmere" as soon 
as it was known that the Angora goats did not belong to that breed, but 
there are a few uninformed persons who still refer to them as Cash- 
meres. Owing to the prejudice existing against "the goat," it has 
been suggested and strongly urged by some that the easiest and quick- 
est manner of ingratiating the Angora goat with the people is to drop 
the word "goat" altogether and call them simply "Angoras." In 
other words, it is proposed to pretend that this animal does not belong- 
to the goat family. It would still be a goat notwithstanding, and 
students of science would forever be pointing out the pretense. 
Besides, the use of the name ' 'Angora " alone would almost certainly 
lead to the commission of errors. Ever^^thing of American origin is 
referred to as beino- "American," and the various animals from the 
vilayet of Angora could with equal propriet}- be called "Angoras." 
For instance, the long-haired cat from that province is quite well 
known in this country and is called an "Angora." 



THE ATSTGORA GOAT. 25 

The American people desire to know things hy their right names. 
This is a principle more deep seated than mere prejudice. .A great 
amount of prejudice had to be overcome before the tomato was gener- 
all}^ used for food, and we can imagine in a degree what was said of the 
first man who ate an oyster or a mushroom. But these ' ' poisonous " and 
"nast}^" things are now recognized everywhere not only as delicacies 
but as most nourishing food. So will it be with the flesh of Angora 
goats when it is generally known that it is palatable and nutritious. A 
perusal of the many reports received by the Bureau of Animal Indus- 
try shows that there is no objection to Angora goat meat in those 
localities where these goats are raised. 

The Angora has everything fco recommend it — nothing to condemn 
it; and there seems to be no real good reason why its identity should 
be lost by dropping the name "goat." Whoever sees the animal can 
not fail to admire it, and whoever eats of it is quite certain to like it 
if he is at all fond of mutton; and the j^rejudice against it will disap- 
pear as the industry expands and develops throughout the country. 
Indeed, a knowledge of the Angora goat shows that the existing 
prejudices will not hold against it; that those prejudices are based 
upon the reputation of the common goat. 

NAMES OF THE SEXES. 

There are no well-established names for designating the sexes of 
goats. The male is indiscriminately called "male," "sire," "buck," 
"ram," and "billy," and the female, "doe," "ewe," and "nanny." 
Oftentimes a writer uses two or more of them in one article, showing 
that he has not adopted any of them. One of the questions submitted 
to the men was this: "As to designation of sex — do 3^ou call the male 
"buck," "billy," or "ram," and the female "ewe," "nanny," or 
"doe ? " More than half of those who replied called the male "buck," 
and nearly half called the female "doe." The objection of one writer 
that the plural of the female, "does," conflicts in reading with the verb 
"does," will not hold, as a sentence will not "make sense" with the 
one word used for the other. In this bulletin it has been decided to 
refer to the sexes as "buck" and " doe." 

The castrated animal is called "wether," as with sheep. In Cape 
Colony he is called a "kapater," and the sheep wether is there called a 
"hamel;" but there is no reason why we should adopt these terms. 

The young is called the "kid." There seems to be absolute una- 
nimity in this matter. 

NAME OF THE FLESH. 

Our correspondents are apart in the use of the terms "Angora mut- 
ton" and "Angora venison" for the flesh of the Angora goat, but the 
greater number of them call it by the former name. Those who pas- 
tured their goats upon some grass or clover as well as upon browse, 



26 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

and then finished their fattening with grain, p'-odiiced a meat so nearly 
like the best lamb that it required experts tQ detect a difference; these 
people use the term ''Angora mutton." In other instances, where the 
animal is fattened by browse alone, there is imparted to the meat a 
game flavor, which may be intensified or reduced by the character of 
the browse; people who use the meat under these conditions call it 
"Angora venison." 

Some correspondents, with evident thoughtlessness, refer to the meat 
as "goat meat." This is a serious blunder if a successful effort is to 
be made to popularize the use of Angora mutton, as there is a wonder- 
ful difference between the flesh of the common goat and that of the 
Angora. For this reason the prefix ' 'Angora " should never be omitted. 

THE USES OF ANGORA GOATS. 

A large class of people in some way have become possessed of the 
opinion that the goat is practically a useless animal. They do not 
reach conclusions upon investigations, however, and do not discrimi- 
nate between the different breeds. To them a goat is a "goat," and 
there the argument ends. Investigations prove that the Angora goats 
are not only classed among the most useful of the domestic animals, 
and have been so classed for thousands of years, but their usefulness is 
manifested in a variety of ways. The fleece, called ' ' mohair," furnishes 
some of the finest of fabrics among ladies' goods and is used in various 
other manufactures; their habit of browsing enables the farmer in a 
wooded locality to use them to help in subjugating the forest; their 
flesh is exceedingly delicate and nutritious; the milk, though not so 
abundant as with the milch breed of goats, is richer than cow's milk; 
their tanned skins, though inferior in quality to the skins of the com- 
mon goat, are used for leather; their pelts make the neatest of rugs 
and robes; they are excellent pets for children; a few of them in a 
flock of sheep are a protection from wolves and dogs; their manure is 
noticeably helpful to the grass which follows them after they have 
cleaned away the underbrush. These are all vital subjects of varying 
degrees of importance, and will be considered here under appropriate 
heads. 

BROWSING AND PASTURAGE. 

Ahility to clear 'brush land. — Goats are browsers by nature, and there 
is no vegetation they will eat in preference to leaves and twigs of 
bushes. While this fact would at once establish them as an intolera- 
ble nuisance in an orchard or garden or any other place where desira- 
ble shrubbery is growing, it also shows that they may be of great value 
in many localities where it is desirable that underbrush be destroA^ed. 
They are omnivorous eaters and seem particular to avoid that charac- 
ter of vegetation which other kinds of live stock prefer. Every leaf 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 27 

and every twig within tlieir reach is greedily eaten, even to most of 
the buslies and weeds that are considered poisonous to other rumi- 
nants, while a remarkably few weeds are passed by. They will desert 
the finest clover and blue grass for such an outlay. 

The inherent tendency to climb leads them to hillsides and rocky 
clifi's, and they prefer such situations to an}^ of a level character. 
Here nature meets their necessities b}^ dwarfing the Inishes so they 
may be browsed easily; the soil is quickh^ drained in the event of 
rain — for they do not like wet land; and the stones serve to keep the 
feet trimmed properly by the wearing process. This is the situation 
that the goats would choose; but the farmer might choose to turn 
them into a dense mass of brush and weeds anywhere and they will at 
once begin to convert it into the most beautiful pasture. 

In those localities where valuable land is completely subdued by 
brush the goats are considered of more value for the purpose of clear- 
ing it than for their mohair or meat. They thus become one of the 
farmer's important tools. Their value in this respect nmst be meas- 
ured by the vtilue of the land which they will render cultivable. It is 
said that in Oregon, where Chinamen had been paid as high as $20 an 
acre for clearing off brush, goats had done the work even better. 
Sprouts will spring up behind men's work, but goats will keep them 
down until they cease to appear. True, the goats require more time 
than men, but their work is better. In this connection an article 
which appeared in the Country Gentleman of January 11, 1900, is of 
special interest: 

In 1870 Mr. Landrum exhibited* ten head at the Oregon State fair. They were 
put in a brush pen, where they ate out the brush and peeled the saphngs during the 
fair. As the Willamette Valley was covered with brush and farmers were paying 
Chinamen §20 and Americans $22 per acre for grubbing, Mr. Landrum suggested the 
employment of goats instead; and, to demonstrate their effectiveness as substitutes 
for grubbing, he left them on 3 acres of slashed brush. At the end of the first year 
the roots were dead and discolored, and at the end of the second year they were rot- 
ten and the land mellow for the plow. Then he drove up his California herd of 
2,400, the result of fifteen years of breeding, and sold them in small lots from Jackson- 
ville to Portland, scattering them throughout the Willamette Valley. He says he 
sold as many more later to go to Oregon, where there are now 80,000 head, mostly in 
lots of 25 to 300. * * * He believes that they are more profitable than any other 
farm animals. They have cleared hundreds of thousands of acres of brush land in 
Oregon now in cultivation. 

Through the courtesy of Dr. J. E. Standley, of Platteville, Iowa, three 
illustrations are presented which, as he naively states, shows woodland 
''before goating, during goating, and after goating." Words can not 
possibly emphasize the work of goats as brush destroyers so strongly 
as these illustrations. The first (PI. II) shows simply a dense mass of 
hazel, plum, craV) apple, several varieties of oaks, and weeds as high 
as the fence. This land was as nearly like that shown in the other 



28 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

illustrations before goats were turned in them as it was possible to 
find. The second (PL III) shows a piece of land while goats were 
operating on it. It will l)e observed that the brush is dead, and that 
the weeds only appear to be alive. The third (PI. IV) shows the 
"finished product'' after two years. The goats had been in the tract 
shown in Plate III but twelve months when this photograph was taken. 
The shrubbery that was too large for the goats to "ride down" was 
cut down, the goats completing the work by eating the soft twigs and 
leaves. The last piece is ready for cultivation or for pasture for 
cattle, sheep, or horses. When the goats were first turned into this 
tract it was as full of brush as the tract shown in Plate II, and they 
were allowed to run upon it but two years. 

The beneficial effect of the goats is not all in the clearing of the land 
of })rush. In man}^ parts of the country nutritious grasses "come in " 
after the goats have done their work. In the tract shown (PI. IV) 
blue grass has b}^ natural methods formed a most excellent pasture. 
The final result is that the goats not onl}^ put such character of land in 
condition for cultivation, but actually go further by converting a 
wilderness into a good pasture, thus preparing the way by cheapest 
methods for sheep, cattle, or horses. 

Dr. Standi ey says that in that part of Iowa where he lives " 100 
Angoras to each 40 acres of this land for two years would make 
it as clean as a lawn and as perfecth^ set in blue grass as a lawn." 
He has 500 acres of such land cleared in this manner. This land 
now supports one steer to each acre, whereas before it was cleared 
there was not enough grass on an acre to make a sheep or goat a single 
feed. The same experience is reported by Mr. Q. M. Beck, of Bear- 
grove, Iowa, who says: "After running them on such lands here a 
few years we have a fine blue-grass pasture." 

Dr. Standle}' 's experience in the employment of goats for clearing 
land is extensive, and thousands of goats have been taken into Iowa 
upon his recommendation. It will interest the readers of this paper 
to see the following from his pen: 

Land can be cleared of the worst brush known to this country for a Httle less than 
nothing by Angora goats. Some one asks how. Simply this: Angora goats will pay 
a profit and live on leaves and weeds, leaving the land cleaner and nicer than can be 
done in any other way. Many persons have the idea that goats bark the trees and 
in that way kill them. They also think that goats wholly eat the hazel and other 
small brush. There is nothing in this. Goats are no worse to bark trees of any 
kind than sheep. The way in which goats kill brush is by continually cropping the 
leaves, which serve as the lungs of the brush. The continued cropping of the 
leaves makes the brush, as it were, sick, caused by lack of nourishment. This sickness 
sinks to the very extremity of the roots, thus preventing sprouting. Any and all 
kinds of bushes are in this way easily killed. Some kinds of brush and some kinds 
of stumps are of course much harder to kill than others. Many varieties are entirely 
killed by one summer's trimming of the leaves. Almost any are killed by two years' 



THE ATTGOEA GOAT. 29 

trimming. To clear the worst brush do not cut anything that the goats can reach or 
bend. The tallest or largest is better not cut. All trees and saplings should be cut, 
and the goats will keep all the sprouts down. If stumps are allowed to sprout one 
year before the goats are turnfed in, the sprouts need not be cut. About 200 goats 
for 40 acres of brush will in two or three years make the land as clean as a garden. 
If the pasture has only patches of brush, turn in a few goats and it will make more 
grass for other stock than if the goats were not in. They eat very little grass when 
they can get leaves. Goats even like weeds better than grass. In clearing brush land 
in the old way by grub and plow there are always left many eyesores in the way of 
brushy nooks and bends and steep places which can not be plowed. 

There are millions of acres of land in nearly every State in the Union which might 
be much more than doubled in value by the use of Angora goats at no cost at all. 
Commence and count the worth of your land, then the fencing, and see if you can 
afford to leave your brush land so nearly worthless for all time. Then count the 
cost of grubbing and plowing, if indeed such land is susceptible to the plow. No 
man can afford to grub and plow brush land in this day and age of the world any 
more than he can afford to plant a large field of corn without a planter. In hilly or 
mountainous portions of the country the Angora goat can be made to do a great 
service in the way of clearing the underbrush, when the land will bring grass after 
the brush is gone. It would surely be a paying business to buy up large tracts of 
rough land in the mountain districts, or indeed any brush land in the United States, 
and clear the brush and set in grass. Afterwards, if the owner liked other stock 
better, he might dispense with the Angoras. In many places where the country is 
too bare to furnish sheep with sufficient feed goats will do exceedingly well. In 
many places where leaves are abundant and there is scarcely any grass, making it 
impossible to profitably keep sheep, goats will do admirably well. 

While Dr. Standley's experience is that goats will not to any appre- 
ciable extent peel the bark off shrubbery, the experience of others is 
quite the reverse. Mr. H. T. Fuchs, of Tiger Mills, Tex. , writes in the 
Farm and Ranch of October 6, 1900, that one summer he purchased 
some Angora go^ts which came from a range where they had killed 
out all the tall sumac trees. On his own range was much of this brush, 
and his goats had never touched it. It was a treat for the newly pur- 
chased goats, and the}^ "peeled the bark nicely and cleaned off every 
sumac tree in the pasture as high as they could reach (about (> feet), 
and in a few days 3 ou could see the white, smooth-peeled trees with 
their dead tops for miles all over the pasture." He adds that fifty 
men with hatchets could not have done the work so fast or with so 
much pleasure. Further, he says the goats that had all along been in 
the pasture "took the hint and went at the bark peeling also." All 
of which goes to show that the goat is an intelligent animal and is 
capable of learning much by observation. 

Mr. Q. M. Beck, of Bear Grove, Iowa, writes that he had goats on 
a 23-acre tract, fenced, in one corner of which were 5 acres of clover 
suitable for hay. The goats not only cleared the way for the clover, 
but ate the browse instead of the clover. The goats were turned into 
this piece last June (1900), when they could hardly be seen on account 
of the brush, while now (September) they can be seen anywhere in it. 



30 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

Of no less interest is the following extract from an article by Col. 
William L. Black, of Fort McKavett, Tex., who writes from an expe- 
rience of many years: 

The brush question is a most serious one in a great many of our States. So long 
as land can be kept under cultivation the brush can be kept down; but when it is 
once thrown open to pasture briers and brush of all descriptions begm to grow and 
soon cover the entire surface. Even in our own State of Texas many millions of 
acres are growing up into brush thickets and will sooner or later become worthless 
for pasturing cattle, and in many of the Western Territories the same conditions 
exist. It is supposed that this has been produced by an increase in the rainfall, but 
I am inclined to think it is not altogether due to this fact. That brush and trees are 
indigenous to many of our so-called arid districts can be very easily proven by the 
great quantities of roots that the present inhabitants dig out of the ground for fuel 
purposes. Not a tree can be seen for hundreds of miles, yet these great roots can be 
found almost everywhere on the prairies and are a substantial witness to the fact 
that there was an abundance of trees there at some time or other. Before this por- 
tion of the United States was occupied by the white man it was a common practice 
of the Indians to burn the high prairie grass every fall or winter in order to hunt 
wild game that was so abundant in this part of the country. Buffalo and deer were 
as common then as cattle and sheep are now, but the grass was so high in places 
they could not be seen, and the Indian would burn it off to be able to hunt them 
more readily. This undoubtedly destroyed much of the growth of trees and, in my 
opinion, is the true explanation of the roots that are now found in many parts of 
west Texa«, New Mexico, and other Western Territories. 

The question is a very important one; and if the goat can be used to keep this 
growth back, it is certainly well worth the attention of many of our landowners, 
who may, in a few years, find their land practically worthless. A personal friend 
writes me that "many pastures are growing up to oak brush and hazel brush in the 
North, and in New England they are bothered with ferns (called brakes), berry 
bushes — blackberries, raspberries, etc." This kind of fare would be "peaches and 
cream" to a goat, and in a year or two the owner would be relieved of a great nui- 
sance, the goats would grow fat, and the land would be restored to a proper condition 
for grazing other stock on it. Another correspondent in ^Massachusetts speaks of a 
certain small island he owned which was so densely covered with brush as to be 
utterly valueless except to grow mosquitoes. I hear of many parts of the East that 
are seriously troubled with brush, where many thousands of acres are of no use for 
grazing purposes, and the profit in farming will not justify the cost of grubbing it. 
In the Southern States many farms have become worn out and are growing up into 
brush and weeds. The Angora goat is the proper animal to employ to put these 
lands in a condition either for cultivation or grazing cattle. But a number of my 
correspondents have asked me what they could do with the goats after they had 
cleared the land. In reply to this I will say they can well afford to slaughter them 
and feed them to hogs, but this is not necessary now. The fashion has changed 
since I slaughtered goats for their hide and tallow, and there is no trouble in selling 
all the goats you send to any of our large meat-packing markets. 

Mr, E. H. Jobson, haying in mind the markets as well as the 
clearing of land, writes as follows: 

The best and most effective way to clear brush land with Angora goats is as follows: 
It will not be necessary to put up a very high fence; 4 feet of close fencing is plenty 
and will be sufficient to keep the goats in. The proportion of goats is two and one- 
half to three goats to an acre of ordinary thick brush land. I believe the cheapest 
way to clear your land is with yearling wethers, as will be seen later on. If wethers 



THE a:p^gora goat. 31 

are used, you must fence off one-third of the land you desire cleared, so the goats can. 
not get to it. The proper time of the year to turn them loose on the brush is after 
the spring rains have ceased, whish is usually about the 1st of June. By this time 
the leaves will be well matured, and the goats innnediately proceed to strip the brush 
of its foliage, which leaves the stems and branches exposed to the hot sun, which 
cooks them and kills the brush from its 'deepest roots to its topmost branches. The 
hot sun being the most effective, and there being no rains to revive the sap, it makes 
quick destruction of the brush. By the time that the goats vnll have the largest por- 
tion of the land cleared it will be well along in August, and it will now be time to 
turn them in on the piece of land fenced off at the start, which is fresh and abundant. 
In connection with the brush feed allow them one ear of corn a day, and at the end 
of six weeks they will have cleared the remainder of your brush land, and the corn 
you have been feeding them will have them in prime condition to be thrown on the 
market, where they Avill bring as much as, if not more than, you paid for them. The 
result is that you have cleared your land, at most, at an actual cost of 50 cents an 
acre, and besides that, your land is now ready to set in blue grass, which will enable 
you to rent it to sheep growers at |2.50 per acre, thereby causing the idle land to 
produce an income rather than a constant incumbrance of taxes, with, no profit at all. 

An illustration of the value of Angora goats in clearing land is given 
by Mr. Abe Blackburn, of North Yamhill, Oreg., who says that he 
now has a pasture that will keep 200 sheep which did not have grass 
enough to keep a goose when he turned his goats into it a few years 
ago. The goats have killed out the brush, and the grass has taken its 
place. 

The following quotations from others who have had experience with 
goats as brush destroyers show how well the work is done, and, to 
some extent, the character and kinds of brush eaten: 

When conj&ned in small bushy pastures they have been profitable in clearing the 
land. Some of the finest vineyard lands in California have been cleared by goats. 
A farmer in western Qregon, who has for several years run a small flock of goats in 
a pasture with dairy cows, says the pasture now i:>roduces double the grass it did 
before he purchased the goats. Lands formerly producing nothing but brush and 
ferns are now covered with clover and bunch grass. A farmer in Iowa writes as 
follows: ''Their value as brush-land cleaners can hardly be estimated. To a person 
who has never seen the results of the application of Angoras to brush lands, a ride 
through my blue-grass pastures is a revelation. Where three years ago the ground 
was densely covered with an undergrowth of hazel, crab tree, oak, blackberry, and 
other brush, it is now growing the finest blue grass. At present I have over 600 
acres which have been reclaimed, and a conservative estimate would be that the 
value of the land had thereby been enhanced at least |10 an acre." — C. P. Bailey, 
San Jose, Cal. 

Angoi-a goats like a variety of food; they live j^rincipally on leaves and young and 
tender barks and twigs of bushes and small trees, but, if necessity compels them, 
they will also eat weeds and grasses, and for a time do well on them. The quality 
of a goat pasture, therefore, depends upon the amount and variety of brush, especially 
evergreens — as cedar, hemlock, live oak, holly, etc. — which it contains, for on these, 
as well as the tender bark and twigs of all kinds of bushes, they live principally in 
winter; and the more of it they find the less grain and hay do they require during 
the cold spells. — G. A. Hoerle, Eidgewood, N. J. 

For clearing out thickets and undergrowth of all kinds there is nothing better than 
these goats. Their pasture will soon look as clear as a cleaned-up picnic ground as 



32 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

high as they can reach when standing on their hind legs. In this way they can 
reach 5 or 6 feet high, and they bend down everything they can reach with their 
fore legs. The brushier the range the better, and the more different kinds of brush 
and weeds on their range the better they will thrive. — H. T. Fuchs, Tiger Mills, Tex. 

They more than pay for the expense of keeping them by clearing my land. They 
clear off the willows, haws, buck brush, and squawberries and leave a good blue- 
grass pasture where there was a nuisance in the first place. — /. D. Lewis, Colo. 

He will eat buck brush, black oak, hickory, and all other kinds of brush, jimson 
weed, ironweed, smartweed, and every other weed that grows, leaving the grass 
for other animals that will feed after the goats. — R. C. Johnston, Laurence, Kans. 

There is good grass here (AVyoming) , but my goats won't eat buffalo grass. They 
will browse on sagebrush, grease wood, scrub cedar, scrub pine, laurel, and willows; 
but they refuse to eat the best grass that grows. — W. W. Eheler. 

In Arizona the principal and favorite browsing is live-oak brush. — /. F. Holder, Ariz. 

The statement is made in a previous paragraph that goats are omnivo- 
rous eaters, apparent!}^ preferring those kinds of vegetation that other 
animals do not eat. The information in the quotations just given indi- 
cates that they will feed upon a great variety of plants. With the 
object in view of ascertaining the different kinds of plants that these 
goats feed upon, the Bureau requested several stock raisers in various 
States and Territories in the country to report answers to the question, 
"What kind of browse do your goats have?" Some information of 
this character is in the quotations above and more will be found in 
the replies copied below, credit for the statements being given to the 
State only: 

All kinds of bushes, such as scrub oak, cedar, etc., in Texas. In this part of New 
Jersey most everything that exists in Texas, except scrub oak and liye oak, may be 
found. — New Jersey. 

Black oak, sumac, buck bushes, briers, and all kinds of weeds. They will not eat 
grass if they can get browse. — Missouri. 

Buck bush, elders, sumac, i:)rickly ash, briers, grapevines, jack oak, ash, sycamore, 
basswood, and hickory. The latter they do not seem to care much for. — Kansas. 

Brush, weeds, and grass. — Texas. 

In southern New Mexico they have live oak and mahagony. They do best on 
scrub oak. — Neiv Mexico. 

Oak, hazel, vine maple, ash, willow, rosebush, thimbleberry, blackberry, buck 
bush, service berry, crab apple, haw berry, soft maple, and some fir. — Oregon. 

Mostly mountain oak and other classes of underbrush. They will not eat grass if 
brush is obtainable. — Neiv Mexico. 

Oak and hazel. — Oregon. 

Maple, hazel, willow, fir, thimbleberry, cascara, vine maple, cherry, alder, and 
salol. — Oregon. 

Willow, ash, and buck bush on low, swampy land in summer time, and straw and 
fir brush in winter months. — Oregon. 

Apple, fir, oak, ash, willow, maple, and poplar. — Oregon. 



Bulletin No. 27. B. A. I. 



Plate II. 



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D. 


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Bulletin No. 27, B. A. I. 



Plate III. 




Bulletin No. 27, B. A. 



Plate IV. 




THE ANGORA GOAT. 33 

We have almost all kinds of browse in Arizona, but scrub evergreen oak predomi- 
nates. We have millions of acres of it, too. — Arizona. 

Oak, hazel, ash, fir, and madrona. — Oregon. 

Live oak, post oak, hackberry, elm, black persimmon, black jack, mesquit, moun- 
tain cedar, wild jDlum, etc. — Texas. 

Several kinds of oak, sumac, grass, and weeds. They will eat almost any kind of 
underbrush. — Texas. 

Brush, weeds, briers, mullen, and thistles. — Iowa. 

All of the undergrowth common to southern Iowa — plum, hazel, four or five kinds 
of oak, elm, three or four kinds of willow, crab apple, and buck bush (sometimes 
called turkey berry) . — Iowa. 

Broivsing supplements feediiio — The browsing habits of goats is 
important in connection with the question of feeding. In some places 
they obtain enough browse to carry them through the winter. This 
is especially true in the Southwest, where there is so great an abund- 
ance of live oak. If snow is on the ground, or for other reasons the 
goats are deprived of opportunities for foraging, the trees are cut 
down for them. They pass though the winter in good condition with 
other feed. Wherever they are deprived of opportunities for brows- 
ing, they must be fed. Browsing saves feed. As far north as Nevada 
Mr. Bailey's goats subsist the winter through on sagebrush. 

Broicsing adds game flavor. — It is noted that many of the cor- 
respondents heretofore quoted state that it is the browsing of the 
Angora that gives to the meat the game flavor, thus leading some to 
name the meat ' 'Angora venison. " It is also stated that when deprived 
of browse and fed on grass and grain the game flavor disappears. 
There is no reason. why this should not be true, for it is a well-known 
fact that flavor may not only be fed into meat, but into milk and eggs 
as well. 

Common goats as hrnsh destroyers. — The fact must not be overlooked 
that the brush-destroying habit is common to all kinds of goats. The 
common goats will do the work as well as the Angoras. The latter are 
employed for the purpose because they are more plentiful and because 
there is profit in their progen}^ for breeding purposes, their mohair, 
and their meat. 

Preserving hrush land for browsing. — Up to this point consideration 
has been given to these goats as a means of clearing land for pasture 
or for cultivation. There is much brush land in the United States 
which will support goats but is good for nothing else. If this is to 
be devoted to goat raising, it is, of course, not desirable that the brush 
be entirely exterminated. In this event a goat raiser should have sev- 
eral fenced areas and change the goats from one to the other fre- 
quently. They should not be permitted entirely to denude one field 
before they are transferred to another. It is true, however, that no 
matter how perfectly a woodland may be cleared of brush it will be 
11786— No. 27—01 3 



34 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

covered over again with briers and brush in a. few j^ears if constant 
attention is not given it. It is not difficult to overpasture such land, 
and if the goats adopt the "peeling" practice the brush and trees will 
have greater difficulty in recovering. 

Grass and weeds as pasturage. — Considerable interest has been mani- 
fested in the Angora industry in those localities where browse is not 
available and where grass and weeds form the only pasturage. A 
great man}^ inquiries of this character have come to the Bureau, and 
the Bureau, in turn, has referred the matter to the breeders of the 
country. The replies received have been numerous, and show a differ- 
ence of opinion. The predominant opinion, however, seems to be 
that the goats thrive best under the conditions most nearly like those 
of their original home. It is certainly the best argument to say that 
goats prefer any kind of browse to the most nutritious of grasses, 
which is true, and therefore browse is better for them than grass. 
While the more economical conditions obtain where there is an abun- 
dance of browse, it is not definitely settled that the goats will not thrive 
well on common pasture grasses. It is the opinion of the writer that 
this question is still an open one, as some successful breeders have had 
goats on the grass range for thirty years. From the standpoint of the 
goat's preference, there is no question that browse is the better food, 
and this in itself is a forceful argument. 

There is always expense in connection with pasture grasses, but there 
is little or none with browse. One of the chief reasons wh}^ goats are 
receiving so much consideration at this time is that they are practi- 
cally inexpensive feeders, and so all items of expense must be figured 
on if profit is to result. Pasturage, unlike browse, is not available all 
the year through. Therefore in prairie locations feeding in winter is 
a necessity. One of the recommendations in favor of Angora mutton 
is that it has the flavor of venison. This flavor is imparted by the 
browse, and is absent in the mutton made from grass or grain feed. 
Many claim that the animals make a better growth among the bushes 
than on open pastures, and that the quality of the fleece is much better- 
Contrary to this, however, is the opinion of Mr. Philo Ogden, of 
California, who says: "The fact is that the brush disappears from 
m}^ range and the fleeces become heavier, with less wax or gum, 
and has more luster. Further, 75 per cent of the young stock are 
larger than their parents and shear more and finer hair." He says, 
also, that his experience in raising Jersey cattle was similar, in the 
respect that as they were taken out of brush pasturage and grown on 
grass pasturage they obtained a larger frame, so much so that sales 
failed because of a suspicion that they were not purebred. 

Opinions of several correspondents of the Bureau are given in the 
paragraphs following: 

It is not advisable to raise goats for their mohair on farms on which they Avill be 
obhged to feed to a large extent on grass and forage plants which are suitable for 
sheep. — H. M, Williamson, Portland, Oreg. 



THE ANGOEA GOAT. 35 

My experience is that on plains, and with grass as the only food, thoroughbreds 
would not do well, while the lower grades may do fairly well so long as the altitude 
is sufficient. Usually the mohair is somewhat dry and coarse where grass is pre- 
dominant. — G. A. Hoerle, Ridgewood, N. J. 

Where there is grass and brush, they leave the grass and eat the brush. They 
prefer browsing. — Cook & Buck, Oskaloosa, Kans. 

Brush and weeds are the proper feed for goats, but they will do fairly well on grass 
ilone. — Harris & Baylor, Montell, Tex. 

They must have some brush. — U. S. Grant, Dallas, Or eg. 

Experience has proven that they will do as w^ell on prairie farms as on any other 
place, but they should have artificial shade for hot weather. — E. H. Johson, Lake 
Valley, N. Mex. 

High-bred stock will do specially well. — F. Cladek, Larwood, Oreg. 

They will do well anywhere that they can get green food. — Ahe Blackburn, North 
Yamhill, Greg. 

Angoras will do well on prairie farms if they are changed into different fields often 
or have a large pasture. — Oscar Tom, Angora, Oreg. 

They do well on prairie farms, but do better on bushy or hilly land. One of the 
advantages of Angoras is their adaptability to rugged bush land which is unfit for 
other stock. — C. P. Bailey, San Jose, Cal. 

Angoras will do well on grass and weeds, but will do much better if they can get 
considerable browse also. — Josephus R. Barnette, Globe, Ariz. 

Only in small numbers will they do M^ell on grass and weeds, but where they are 
kept in large numbers they need a good deal of brush and timbered country. Of 
course, they will do well on prairie if they get some corn. — H. T. Fuchs, Tiger 
Mills, Tex. 

They will do first-rate on prairies, where grass and weeds are the only pasturage; 
but they will then hg,ve to eat the feed which the other stock require, whereas, on 
brush ranges the capacity of the land for carrying sheep and other grass-eating stock 
is not lessened by the presence of Angoras. — W. G. Hughes & Co. , Hastings, Tex. 

I pastured two summers on grass and clover, and they did as well as when on leaves 
and weeds. I am confident that a farm cleared of brush can successfully be used for 
Angoras. — ./. R. Standley, Platteville, lovxi. 

They need a great variety of feed and rough range, with plenty of pure, clear 
water. — W. T. Mclntire, Kansas City, Mo. 

They do well while the grass is green, but do not like dry grass or weeds, and 
always do better when they get some brush. They will have to be fed in winter on 
prairie farms. — H. I. Kimball, Maxwell City, N, Mex. 

Pasturing with other stock. — So far as the goats themselves are con- 
cerned, they ma}^ be kept in the pastures where there are sheep, cat-, 
tie, and horses. Their presence is in no way obnoxious to any of these 
animals. It has alread}^ been pointed out that a few of them in a flock 
of sheep are a protection against dogs. However, it is not best for 
the goats that they be kept in pastures with horses. This is especially 
important if there are kids, as the horses have a habit of playfully chas- 
ing any animal that is not large enough to defend itself, and they are apt 
to strike the kids. It is also important that the kids should not be in 
pasture with hogs, which are liable to eat them. 



36 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

Number of goats to an acre. — This is a question frequentl}^ asked, 
but certainly no thoughtful person expects a definite answer. The 
number will depend, first, upon the object in pasturing on brush land, 
whether it is to kill the brush or to use it as a permanent pasture; and 
second, upon the quantity of feed obtainable. While one acre might 
be as dense as a jungle, another might have small thickets alternating 
with grass plats. Thus it will be seen that a definite answer can not 
be given to this question. 

MOHAIR. 

Qiiality of ths fiber. — The word ''mohair" is the technical name for 
the fiber of the Angora goat which is used in the manufacture of 
fabrics. The word comes to us, through the old French •"mohere," 
from the Arabic ''mukhayyar," meaning mohair cloth. 

Besides the mohair there grows upon the Angora goat a short, stiff 
hair, which is technically known as '*kemp" — a subject that will be 
discussed in another paragraph. It is held by some writers that this 
short hair does not occur on the pure Angora, and that where it does 
appear it is upon Angoras that have been bred up by crossing upon 
the common goats; in short, that it is a relic of the common goat. 
This argument seems plausible, at least, for two reasons: First, there 
is no certainty that any Angora goats now in existence are absolutely 
purebred, as many years ago the Turkish breeders began the practice 
of crossing upon the Kurd goats, and thus vitiating the blood; second, 
it is noticeable in building up a fiock by crossing upon the common 
goats that the short hair is very prominent in the first cross, and 
gradually grows less as tbe crosses become higher. 

The uses of mohair in manufactures are discussed on page 44 and need 
not be repeated here. The properties of this fiber which render it 
desirable are length, fineness, luster, strength, elasticity, and specific 
gravity, and these are relatively desirable in about the order given. 
There is no difiaculty in securing length and strength, but the other 
properties must come by the most painstaking care b}^ breeding. Hav- 
ing length, strength, and luster, the manufacturer wants the fiber as 
fine as can be bred. Good mohair averages about one five-thousandth 
of an inch in diameter; or, expressed otherwise, 5,000 hairs may be laid 
side b}^ side in solid contact within the space of 1 inch. 

Many mohair growers assert that the quality of the fiber depends 
largeh^ upon the climate and the feed; and all are agreed that the filler 
becomes coarser as the animal grows older. Schreiner says: 

If goats are to produce the best fleeces they are capable of, they must be maintained 
in uninterrupted good condition. They must have a variety of food, principally 
shrubs and aromatic plants, and lead an active life; they must, if possible, have run- 
ning water to drink and be kept free from dust; they must not be kraaled (or shedded) 
except when absolutely necessary; they must have clean sleeping places and must 
not be crowded together. 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 37 

The wide range of prices of mohair in the market is due to various 
causes, but to none so much as the unevenness in qualit}^ of fibers. As 
compared to the total production in the United States, the quantity of 
first-class mohair is exceedingly small. The tendency has been to 
breed for length of fleece and size of animal. While both these 
qualities are desirable, it ought to be plain to anyone that profit does 
not lie in these directions wholly. 

Mohair in a general sense is an expansive term, covering the fleeces 
of goats of various Angora crosses. The fleece from a cross between 
an Angora buck and the common "nannie," although scant, coarse, 
and of uneven length, is unfortunately called mohair, just the same as 
that from the best animal. The fleece of the second cross is better, 
and that of the fourth and fifth crosses very good, provided, alwa3^s, 
that first-class bucks have been used. The complaint of the manufac- 
turers is that very little first-class mohair is produced in the United 
States. It has been demonstrated, however, that a first-class fiber can 
be produced here. Mr. Meeker, late consul at Bradford, England, 
the leading mohair market of the world, recently wrote as follows: 

There has been on exhibition at this consulate for the past week an American- 
grown mohair fleece forwarded to Bradford by Mr. C. P. Bailey, of San Jose, Cal. 
The fleece is that of a 2-year-old graded doe and is understood to have been grown 
on Mr. Bailey's ranch in Nevada. The quality of the hair has been the wonder of 
all who have seen it. It has been closely examined by several of the leading mohair 
dealers and importers, all of whom have expressed the highest opinion of it. One 
of them, Jonas Whitley, ex-mayor of Bradford, said: ''I have now in my warehouse 
about $200,000 worth of mohair, both Turkey and Cape, and I am entirely sincere 
when I state that there is not a better fleece in the lot. I will buy all the American 
mohair like that that may be offered me at the market price. Should it uniformly 
equal this fleece, I do "not know but what I would pay more than the market price. 
* * * I unhesitatingly say that the sample fleece is as good mohair as is grown." 

A well-known spinner of New England is quoted by Mr. Bailey as 
saying that^ — 

The American mohair is better than any brought from abroad; it is smoother, 
makes a smoother thread, and runs spindles faster; it is silkier and softer, and I can 
pick out cloth made from it without looking. 

Mr. G. A. Hoerle says: 

Samples of our best mohair vv^hich were sent to England were classed as equal to 
the best Turkish, while the best Cape hair was as much as 2 or 3 cents lower, a fact 
which proves that even if we finally should have to ship mohair to Europe it would, 
in the long run, pay as well as selling at home. 

Those American breeders who have been taught to believe that the 
mohair of the Cape of Good Hope is so much better than that produced 
here will find encouragement in the following from Mr. S. B. Rollings, 
writing to the Midland News, Bradford, England, under date of April 

27,1900: 

When I state that the vast majority of mohair clips produced in Cape Colony does 
not fill the bill of our manufacturers I state the whole and sole reason why Turkish 



38 



BUEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



sorts have been called upon very extensively in preference to that grown in South 
Africa. * * * I am stating a plain fact that Bradford users do not think that the 
Cape clip is as yet within 25 per cent of the general excellence of that grown in Asia 
Minor, and that much remains to be done before users here will avail themselves of 
that produced in Cape Colony in preference to that grown in Turkey. 

The encourag-ement is not in the fact that the Cape mohair is so 
much poorer than the Turkish product, but because ours is no worse 
than that of the Cape. Although the annual product of the Cape of 
Good Hope is about 12,000,000 pounds and ours only 1,000,000 pounds 
approximateh^, the growers there recognize the importance of the 
American industry. Mr. W. Hammond Tooke, after discussing the 
Australian possibilities in this industry, says "the United States of 
America should give us more concern.'' In the same article, published 
in the Agricultural Journal of the Cape (May 25, 1899), he states that 
the breeding of goats here for mohair is no longer considered an experi- 
ment, and that the mohair is "much like a large part of that produced 
in the Cape, consisting of rather low grades, short and crossbred, and 
only suitable for combination yarns and for mixing with Turkey hair." 

As illustrative of the superior value of the mohair from Angora 
vilayet and Cape of Good Hope, the following table and statement are 
copied from Schreiner's work (p. 14). The figures represent the aver- 
age of the four years 1891 to 1891:: 



Angora. 



Cape. 



Mohair goats number. . 

Mohair pounds. . 

Per goat pound. . 

Total value of mohair pounds sterling. . 

Per pound 

Money yield of mohair per goat 



1,230,000 


2,891,233 


3,360,000 


9, 982, 709 


2^ 


aSk 


200,000 


419,501 


ls.2id. ^ 


alO^Vi. 


3s.3^d. 


2s. Hid. 



a Nearly. 

The superiority of the Turkish hair is at once apparent, there being a difference in 
its favor in the above figures of nearly 4d. per pound, and also a difference in its 
favor in the net return per goat of nearly 4d., although the Turkish goats shear 
three-fourths of a pound of mohair less per goat than the Cape goats. 

Mr. George B. Goodall, of the Sanf ord Mills, Sanf ord. Me. , points 
out, in a recent letter to the Bureau, the defects of the American- 
grown mohair taken as a whole. His mills consume more than a mil- 
lion pounds of mohair annually, some being the domestic product and 
some the Turkey product, and thus he speaks from large experience. 
He says: 

Before the domestic mohair growers can expect to get anywhere near Turkey prices 
they must do away with kemp and aim for a fine stapled hair instead of breeding 
for coaree, heavy fleeces, as many do. The coarser the fiber, the lower the value to 
the spinner. We often get small shipments of domestic fleeces as choice and fine as 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 39 

those grown in Turkey, which goes to show what can be accompHshed with care and 
brains. The trouble is more with the grower than with the goats and the chmate, 
for what one man can do another can do. 

There are in these quotations hints enough to point the proper course 
for those goat raisers who desire to make their mohair crop a paying 
one. If an Angora goat is of most profit in clearing land of brush (as 
is the case in some localities), his work will be done just as well if he 
produces at the same time a first-class fleece; thus he may become more 
valuable. There is no reason why Angoras should have the preference 
for such work over the common goats, except that they may be profit- 
able in other respects at the same time; therefore the better the fleece 
produced while destroying brush, the greater the value of the goats. 

Influence of age and hloodonflher. — Reference has already been made 
to the fact that the fiber becomes coarser as the animal grows older. 
The fiber is also coarse upon younger animals of the lower crosses. 
The best fiber grows upon the animals of best blood; and among these 
that upon kids, yearling wethers, and does, in the order named, is pre- 
ferred. The best fiber is usually very curly, in ringlets rather, but not 
kinky. It loses its curl and becomes thinner on the goat, coarser, and 
straighter as the animal grows older. A fiber of best quality is shown 
on the left of Plate V. It will be noticed by careful examination of 
this illustration that the samples become less curly as arranged from 
left to right. The reason for this is that the samples are coarser 
toward the right. The laSt sample in the illustration is from an old 
buck, the one next to it from an old doe, while the two samples on the 
left are from kids. 

The weight and length of fleece. — The weight of the fleece is always 
a subject of inquiry and is a difficult question to answer, because of 
the controlling circumstances — such as climate, feed, care, and, above 
all, the degree of Angora blood in the animal. The briefest answer, 
and probably the best one that can be made in a general way, is that 
of Mr. C. P. Bailey, and is as follows: 

Half-breed goats scarcely shear enough to pay for the shearing; three-fourths bred 
goats shear 1 to 1 J pounds, worth 15 to 20 cents; seven-eighths bred goats shear 2 to 
3 pounds, worth 20 to 30 cents; fifteen-sixteenths bred goats shear 3 to 5 pounds, 
worth 30 to 40 cents. 

He adds the important statement that the fourth cross, or fifteen- 
sixteenths, is the lowest grade that he would use exclusively for mohair. 

It would be a difiicult matter to state what is the average length of 
an annual fleece, but 10 inches would probably not be much out of the 
way. There is on record an account of mohair measuring 20 inches. 
Mr. U. S. Grant, of Oregon, reports a buck with a fleece 19 inches 
long. In the southern part of the country, where shearing is done 
twice a year, the fiber must necessarily be shorter. This is a disad- 



40 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

vantage, as the spinners prefer a long fiber. Schreiner shows (p. 119) 
a picture of a buck canning a 13-nionths' fleece, weighing 16 pounds, 
which touches the ground. The feet of the animal are just visible. 

The weights of the fleeces in the United States are much greater 
than in Turkey and about the same as in the Cape of Good Hope. 
With reference to Turkey, Schreiner says : "It would seem that 14 
pounds for rams and 8i pounds for ewes are about the maximum 
weights of really first-class fleeces, and that if these weights are much 
exceeded the quality of the hair is inferior and a good deal of the 
weight is due to oil and dirt." In the Cape of Good Hope buck fleeces 
have surpassed 15 pounds and ewe fleeces 11 pounds. Information at 
hand indicates that the average weights of fleeces in Oregon exceed 
those of other sections of the country, especially in the warmer por- 
tions. This reminds one of the opinion of Colonel Black, that the 
fleece will be increased 1 pound in weight by moving the goats to 
the colder Northern States. 

Schreiner says that the goats must not be crowded together in 
quarters if the best fiber is to be obtained, and Hoerle says that " goats 
running together in small herds will shear from 25 to 40 per cent 
more than when running in large herds." The size of flocks is discussed 
in another place (see p. 75). 

The influence of semiaimual shearing upon weight of fleece is also 
discussed elsewhere (see p. 76). 

Ketyi'j). — The term "kemp" used in connection with mohair refers, 
in a collective sense, to the coarse hair of the goats, and is especially 
noticeable in the lower grades. Hoerle says: "Kemp is the coarse, 
dead-looking hair all through the mohair, about 2 to 4 inches long, 
which I consider to be the degenerated remnants of the long, coarse, 
dead-looking outer coat of some common goats. It is usually thickest 
on the hind quarters of badly bred goats." Its presence in mohair 
always reduces the price in proportion to the amount that is present. 
The reasons for this are various — the hair is coarser than the mohair; 
it is lusterless; it is of various short lengths and must be removed, in 
doing which there is a heav^y loss of mohair; and it will not, except to 
a lioiiited degree, take the dyes used for mohair. This last statement 
is a striking fact and ought to be the means of prompting the mohair 
growers to strive to breed it out. Whether or not it can be done 
entirely is an open question, but it is believed by many prominent 
breeders that it can be done. Schreiner, however, considers kemp a 
part of the fleece that can not be eradicated completely. 

C. P. Bailey & Sons Company say: 

Kemp is a coarse white hair which grows from a separate root sheath between the 
mohair and is usually thickest upon low-grade goats. It is most noticeable along 
the backbone and around the tail and upon the thighs. We have never seen a goat 
entirely free from kemp, nor have we ever seen mohair from any part of the world 



Bulletin No. 27, B. A. 



Plate V. 




JULLETIN No. 27, B. A. i. 



Plate VI. 




THE ANGOEA GOAT. 41 

that was entirely free from it. Kemp may be best detected by separating the mohair 
upon the thigh of tlie animal and closely inspecting the roots of the hair. It will he 
seen as short, coarse, lusterless fibers closely intermingled with the long, silky mohair. 

After the mohair sorter has done his work with a fleece the fiber is 
scoured, dried, and straightened, and then put upon a combing machine. 
This machine separates all fibers, whether of kemp or mohair, of 4 
inches in length and under. Kemp of a greater length than 4 inches 
remains with the longer mohair. If there is much of this long kemp 
after the first combing, the fiber passes through a second combing, 
the machine being set to throw out the kemp and mohair of greater 
length. 

The residue of these two combings, being a mixture of kemp and 
short mohair, is called noilage. The first lot of noils is about 2 inches 
long and the second 4 or more inches long. The length of the second 
noils will vary with different grades of mohair, depending upon the 
length of the kemp present. 

Some mohair will shrink 40 per cent in weight in the first combing 
and 15 per cent in the second. The mohair thus combed is used in the 
fabrication of plushes and fine dress goods, while the noils go into the 
manufacture of carpets, blankets, hats, etc. 

In a recent article in the Oregon Agriculturist, Mr. George B. 
Goodall says: 

A majority of the mohair growers in this country little realize how much kemp 
has to do in keeping down values of their clips. If they could spend a few hours 
in our sorting and combing rooms the lesson learned would be of great value to 
them — more than could be obtained by reading. In watching the combs at work 
they would notice some making 5, 10, or 12 per cent of noil or waste, while others 
will be taking out 30 or 40 per cent. Ask the comber the reason of this and he will 
reply that one lot has a much larger amount of kemp than the other. One fiber of 
kemp takes out five or six good fibers which should go into yarn. It may not 
generally be known why kemp is such an objection, but when we state that it will 
not take color, but remains nearly white in the goods after passing through the dye 
bath, you will understand why I write so strongly on this point. If you want to 
form some idea of how a fabric looks made from kempy mohair yarn, just look at a 
man's hair that has commenced to turn gray, especially dark or black hair. 

Through the kindness of Mr. Goodall the Bureau of Animal Indus- 
try has received some samples of low-grade plushes for car seats 
which show the effects of kemp in mohair. Although in this case 
dyes were used which acted to some extent upon the kemp, the coarse, 
dull-colored hairs are easily seen. An effort was made to photograph 
the samples for reproduction in this paper, but it was impossible to 
bring out the details sufficient to show the kemp, although it was 
plainly visible, under certain lights, in the plushes. 

The following is taken from Mr. E. H. Jobson's Angora Goat 
Raising: 

In the first crossing of goats the kemp hair will be paramount in appearance with 
the mohair and will be very coarse, and as the anirnal becomes better graded the 
shorter the kemp will be, and it also generally becomes of a finer fiber as the pure 



42 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

blood is infused. Upon examining the best grade of goats that we have we find that 
the kemp is very short, probably only three-fourths of an inch in length, and the 
mohair on one of these goats is 8 inches long and weighs 5 pounds, while the kemp 
on the second goat is just as scarce and of the same length; also the mohair is of 
the same length, but the weight is fully 2 pounds more than it was on the first goat: 
herein lies the difficulty. Both goats have the same appearance so far as examina- 
tion can determine, but the second goat is inferior to the first because the fiber of 
his hair is much coarser than the other and contains more of the kempy blood; 
hence the difficulty in examination appears in the quality of the fiber, which can be 
detected only by an experienced eye. 

The kemp hair will always be known by its being shorter and very coarse and of a 
chalky- white appearance. It is particularly noticeable on account of its having no 
luster, which is characteristic of all mohair. The first place that kemp becomes 
extinct on a goat is on shoulders and neck — i. e., on the sides and along the ribs — and 
the last place for it to become extinct is along the top of the neck, down the back- 
bone, and on down to the hocks, the hocks being generally the final place for the 
disappearance of the coarse hair; also you will find kemp to predominate on the 
belly. Do not understand me to say that the kemp becomes entirely extinct, for it 
does not, but it is covered up with the mohair and can be seen only by throwing 
the animal down and examining him carefully, and if be is apparently free from 
kemp you can examine him on the places above mentioned and you will invariably 
find more or less kemp, and generally you will find considerable all over the body. 
A good way to examine the hair is to j^ull out a small lock and spread it out in the 
hand, and you can readily discern any coarse hairs that may be in it. It is supposed 
by the best authorities we have that there are no goats in the world that are abso- 
lutely free from kemp, although it is confidently expected by many of the prominent 
breeders that it is only a question of a few years more of careful breeding until we 
have a kempless goat. 

In addition to the above, Mr. Jobson writes to the Bureau his opin- 
ion that there have not yet been produced any goats absolutely free 
from kemp, but he believes that the intelligence of the Americans 
will enable them to produce such goats, and he himself proposes to 
devote several years to the effort. He proposes to begin this work 
upon the assumption that there is nowhere an absolutely pure Angora 
goat — that there is at present in all of them in some degree the blood 
of the common breed. 

The discussion of kemp will close with quotations of the opinions 
of correspondents of the Bureau who have had experience in raising 
Angoras. It may be stated that a large majority of these men hold 
that kemp never disappears entirely. The quotations follow: 

I don't think that there are 500 Angoras in the United States, thoroughbreds or 
crossbreds, that are entirely free from kemp. Judging, however, from what I have 
seen in former years, freedom from kemp can exist, even with second and third 
crosses, provided the right kind of common does are mated with really kempless 
bucks. Such experiments were made with bucks of the Price Maurice importa- 
tions to Australia, of which one buck and two does came to Texas. Mr. Schreiner, 
the Cape Colony authority, says that none of the pure bloods (so called) imported 
into Cape Colony from Turkey were free from kemp, and, further, ''that kemp can 
and will be entirely eliminated from our [Cape Colony] best stud goats of our most 
intelligent breeders I have no doubt whatever," with which opinion I fully agree. — 
G, A. Hoerle. 



THE ANGOEA GOAT. 43 

In all crosses it will still remain, to some extent at least, on some parts of the body; 
for instance, on the belly.— i/. T. Fuchs. 

It will never disappear. — Harris cC' Baylor. 

If only the pure-blooded Angoras are used as sires, kemp will be imperceptible in 
about six or eight generations. — Col. William L. Black. 

There is but little in the very best. — Abe Blackburn. 

There is not much after the first cross. — Oscar Tom. 

In the fourth cross it nearly disappears, but never entirely. — C. P. Bailey. 

I can not find kemp in my thoroughbreds, although I have found it in billies that 
I bought for pure. I think it can be bred out with proper care in selection of 
billies. — George A. Houck. 

Other deleterious features. — The very short hair, mane, kemp, and 
the hair that has been cut twice in shearing- are, together, called noils, 
and this must all be combed out before the mohair can be spun. The 
noilage in Turkish mohair is only 15 to 20 per cent. In our domestic 
product it runs as high as ttO per cent. Noils are worth only 14 to 16 
cents a pound, the same as short wool for blankets. 

In some sections of our country, where the climate is dry and the 
soil distinctly alkaline, the natural animal yolk disappears from the 
mohair, leaving it dry, frows}^ and harsh. The dust of the fine alkali 
soil penetrates the fleece, so that much of the mohair grown in those 
sections is loaded with it, amounting in some instances to -10 per cent 
in weight. 

Markets and factories. — Two of the questions which the mohair pro- 
ducers were asked to answer were: "Do you have any difiiculty in 
disposing of your mohair ?" and ' ' Where do you market your mohair V 
The answers to the first question were all firmly in the negative except 
in one instance, where an Arizona producer replied: "I have no diffi- 
culty in disposing of m}^ good mohair, but my short and kempy stock 
goes slow and at a low price (23 cents)." There is much encourage- 
ment in these replies to those who may fear that the markets may not 
demand the supply. The ingenuity of the manufacturers in working 
the better grades into woolen fabrics and the poorer grades into 
plushes which make good car seats, horse blankets, hats, etc., has, no 
doubt, opened the way for the consumption of all that may be pro- 
duced. 

As to factories, there are more than a sufficient number in this 
country to manufacture the product; in fact, many of them do not 
attempt to use mohair for the reason that the supply is so limited. 
These factories of the United States are all in the East, and the prin- 
cipal market for the mohair is New York. The marketing center of 
the world is Bradford, England, where practically all the product 
of Cape of Good Hope and Turkey is sold. 

Very few of the mills will purchase direct from the producer. They 



44 BUEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

find it preferable to buy from the commission merchant, as he sepa- 
rates and classifies the fleeces, and the purchaser is enabled to make 
personal inspection. A few producers ship their mohair to Boston, 
and others, especially some of those in the Northwest, sell to com- 
mission men in Portland, while others of the West sell in San Jose, Cal. 
Production. — The production of mohair will be considered elsewhere 
(see p. 82) in connection with the world's production and the imports 
and exports. 

MANUFACTURES OF MOHAIE. 

One of the reasons why the mohair industry has lagged so in this 
CTJuntr\^ during the fifty 3^ears since the introduction of Angora goats 
is that the use of mohair goods was subject to the caprices of fashion. 
It would not be strictly correct to sa}^ that the industry has even got 
beyond the influence of fashion, but it is at least nearly so. There is 
now a steady demand for the product of our country, and much is 
imported besides. Dame Fashion is still whimsical toward all-mohair 
goods, especially dress goods, but the mohair is mixed with other fibers 
for producing fabrics of strength and luster, and the home supply is 
not nearly equal to the demand. Because of the limited and uncertain 
supply, some mills which have at times used mohair no longer attempt 
to secure it. They are prepared to use it as soon as the supply will 
warrant the undertaking. 

Mr. George E. Goodall, president of the Sanford Mills, Sanford, 
Me., who has kindly furnished the Bureau w4th valuable information, 
states that his mills consumed 840,000 pounds of domestic mohair and 
460,000 pounds of Turkish mohair in 1899, a total amount of 1,300,000 
pounds. While these mills are believed to be the largest consumers 
of the domestic product, there are thousands of pounds consumed by 
other mills (see p. 82). This proves, first, that there is a good 
demand for mohair, and second, that the usual estimate of the domes- 
tic production in 1899 as being between 600,000 and 800,000 pounds 
is far below the real amount. 

Only a small percentage of the domestic product of mohair is of 
superior quality, as has been shown in previous pages. The greater 
amount is of inferior qualit}^ from various causes: First, the fleece 
from the crosses, beginning with the first cross, is called mohair, and 
is indeed worth something; second, all of the crosses up to the fourth 
or fifth have a great deal of kemp in the fleece (it never disappears 
entirely from any cross); third, eflorts have been directed too pe.r- 
sistentl}^ toward producing a large fine-looking animal, the fleece being 
a secondary consideration; fourth, the staple, when of superior quality, 
is often too short. 

Man}' grades of mohair are mixed with silk and wool in a large 
variety of fabrics in which it f ormerh' was not used. It is made into 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 45 

dress goods known as mohair, and much of what is usually called 
alpaca is nothing less than mohair. The fine fabric called camel's-hair 
goods is also of the best mohair, and not from the camel, as we would 
suppose from its name. ''Chamal" is the Arabic word for camel, and 
the Arabs called the Angora goat the chamal. Mohair braids contest 
the markets with silk braids and are never out of fashion. The ways 
in which it is used with silk and wool are numerous. It adds to these 
libers not only its brilliant inherent luster, but great durability as 
well. The growers of mohair are fond of quoting Dr. Davis, who 
stated in the Agricultural Report for 1853 that '^I have socks [of 
mohair] which I have worn for six 3^ears and are yet perfectly sound." 
He is also quoted as saying that while in Asia he saw wrappers of 
mohair used by the natives which, they assured him, had descended 
from sire to son for three generations. 

Mr. William R. Payne, an authority, is quoted below on the uses of 
mohair: 

The most important product of the Angora is the long, silky, wavy fleece, used 
either pure or in connection with wool, silk, linen, or ' ' carlton " in a variety of fab- 
rics for house furnishings and ladies' goods, brilliantines, linings, braid, plushes, 
astrakhan cloth, furniture coverings, curtain material, knit goods, fancy effects in 
shawls and dress goods, and numerous other textiles. * * * The short, low, and 
crossbred hair is used for blankets, lap robes, rugs, carpets, and low goods generally, 
but even then is worth more per pound than most sheep wool, varying from 10 to 21 
cents per pound. The uses for mohair are increasing every year, and new outlets 
are being found for it as manufacturers are advancing in the variety of their 
products. 

THE MEAT AND THE MARKETS. 

77?.^ '/neat. — In building up a flock of Angoras from common goats 
(a subject which is discussed elsewhere) the males must not be per- 
mitted to grow into bucks of breeding age; and even among the high 
gi'ades there are comparativeh^ few bucks that should be retained as 
such for breeding purposes. They should be castrated early. The 
great majority of these wethers, especially if the}" are of the first or 
second cross, do not produce sufficient mohair of good quality to war- 
rant flock raisers in keeping them. These should be converted into 
meat as soon as large enough. Those wethers and does which produce 
a fair quality of mohair may be retained for that purpose for . a few 
years and then killed for meat. The}^ are not, however, so good for 
this purpose as the younger animals. 

There is a deep-seated prejudice, as has already been stated, against 
the use of goats of an}" kind for meat. This is founded upon igno- 
rance rather than experience. The most ill-smelling '^ bill}"" of the 
worst possible type is by many made the standard of goat meat for 
the whole of the goat family. As far back as Abraham's day we read 
of goats being used for meat (very likely Angoras), and this, too, when 



46 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

there were many cattle and sheep. Certainly no prejudice existed 
against them at that time. 

There is not much to be said about the meat of the common goat. 
It is not so generally used as that of Angoras. The flesh of their kids 
is considered very fine, and in some sections of the country goats of 
all ages are killed for meat. There are comparatively few common 
goats in the United States, and no attempt is being made to put them 
upon the market. The current report that goats are sold to the pack- 
ers in the large cities for canning purposes is true in the main, but 
refers to the Angora grades. The discussion of this question in this 
paper deals with the Angoras of all grades. 

The flesh of the Angora is exceedingly nutritious and palatable. 
Shropshire lambs, which are considered as among the best kinds of meat, 
are said not to be superior to a well-fed and well-cooked kid. In the 
Southwest these animals are as readily sold for meat as sheep, and the 
market has never been overstocked. A gentleman in Texas found a 
ready market for his canned Angora mutton, but was compelled to 
close his cannery because the supply of goats was not nearly sufiicient 
to supply the demand. In the Northwest the principal use of the 
Angora is for clearing bushy land, and consequently they are not so 
extensively used as food. However, in nearly every locality there 
some have been killed for mutton, and there has never been a deroga- 
tory statement concerning its quality, so far as the writer is able to 
learn. 

In Cape Colony it is said that the old does are slaughtered to fur- 
nish meat for farm hands and young wethers are sold to butchers in 
the town. In California many miners purchase Angora wethers in 
preference to sheep wethers for salting down for winter use, because, 
as they state, the Angora contains less fat, is more easil}^ kept, and is 
just as palatable. 

Mr. John L. Hayes, in the Overland (1870), said that, in order to 
test the qualities of Angora and sheep mutton, a dinner was to be pre- 
pared with the two kinds of meat, and that the guests were not to be 
informed as to which was sheep and which was goat, but they were to 
decide upon the merits of the dishes. 

Twelve disinterested men were invited to partake of the dinner and express their 
opinions of the various dishes they had eaten. Four decided in favor of the sheep's 
and eight in favor of the goat's flesh; and since that breeders in Monterey County 
have no difficuUy in seUing their goats to the neighboring butchers for the same 
price paid for the best mutton. 

Mr. E. H. Jobson, of Lake Valley, N. Mex., is authority for the 
statement that the wealthy people of St. Louis recently began eating 
3^oung Angora mutton and that it is now a regular portion of their 
fare. 



THE ANGOEA GOAT. 



47 



One of the questions to which the Bureau sought replies is as fol- 
lows: ''In your opinion, what are the relative values of Angora flesh 
and mutton?" Several answers to this question, with other quota- 
tions upon the same subject, are given herewith: 

As a food there is no meat that is purer or more tender. It is better than mutton, 
as there is not that excessive fat to contend with that is found on sheep. This is a 
good feature in the Angora venison. In their feeding habits they are very similar to 
a deer, which alone is sufficient proof of the merits of their food qualities. A young 
kid is as dainty a morsel as can be found in the meat line. The wealthy people of 
St. Louis recently took up the fad of eating young Angora venison, and, as a result, 
it is now a regular portion of their fare; and that fad had done a great deal toward 
obviating the prejudice which has so long existed against the Angora venison as a 
food. Angora mutton is now being sold on the market at a fraction of a cent less 
than sheep mutton. — E. H. Jobson, Lake Valley, N. Mex. 

If Angoras are castrated or spayed when early kids, and properly fed before mar- 
keting, and if this is not done too far away from the slaughterhouses, certainly not 
more than a two-days' ride (road travel), their meat is fully as juicy as Southdown 
mutton, while, on the other hand, it is never greasy. This is not only my experi- 
ence in Texas, but was also that of Mrs. Sarah K. Barmore, of Rockland County, 
N. Y., who kept a flock of grade Angoras and sold the progeny to her neighbors, 
principally summer residents from New York City. She emphasized the point that 
her customers preferred it to ordinary mutton, because it was not greasy. Feed 
Angoras as much as you choose, they will never lay on fat in thick layers all through 
the meat, as in the case of other domestic animals. They gain, rather, like deer, 
in meat principally, which has a slight venison flavor. — Gustav A. Hoerle, Ridge- 
wood, N. J. 

It is a curious fact, but true, that black-haired animals have darker skins and 
darker meat than white-haired animals. This accounts for that whiter appearance 
of the Angora goat flesh, w^hich enables the dealer to market it as mutton. The 
black hair, from a poetic standpoint, casts its perpetual shadow on the viand and 
leaves it shaded. The goat flesh is a pleasant and healthy meat. It should be so, 
since the goat is an eater of clean food, and is possibly the freest from disease of any 
quadruped. — Queensland Agricultural Journal, May, 1900. 

The flesh of the Angora goat is said to be superior in flavor to that of any mutton. 
We have eaten several half-bloods and found them delicious. Some of the meat was 
put on sale in a local meat market, and the purchasers came back a few days later 
and wanted more good mutton like that they got the last time. This, we think^ 
is a strong recommendation. The meat is juicy and sweet and has a game flavor. — 
Miller & Sibley, Venango County, Pa. 

The Angora is much more nutritious than sheep mutton, especially where the meat 
is grown on underbrush (leaves), as the following compilation of relative values of 
feed will show: 



Character of feed. 



Protein. 



Starch, 
etc. 



Fats. 



Good pasture grass 

Rich pasture 

Leaves of trees 

Red clover 



Per cent. 
3.5 
4.5 
5.2 
3.3 



Per cent. 

9.7 
10.1 
15.2 

7.0 



Per cent. 
0.8 
1.0 
1.5 
0.7 



48 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

It is often prescribed by physicians for invalids and children for this reason. The 
meat is excellent, and not distinguishable from mutton of the same age and condition. 
It is largely sold as such in many of the larger markets, being regarded as a staple in 
the districts where it is raised. — W. G. Hughes & Co., Hastings, Tex. 

It is the universal testimony of those who are familliar with Angora goats that the 
flesh of this animal is far superior to that of the common goat. The Angora is quite 
as valuable for its flesh as for its fleece. — Oregon Agriculturist, Portland, Oreg. 

The meat from Angora goats is fully as good as the most juicy mutton. This meat 
is sought now more than at any previous time. — Kansas City Drovers^ Telegram. 

Anybody who has ever tasted a roasted or barbecued piece of Angora mutton will 
find it is better than any meat they ever tasted. Angora mutton is worth in the mar- 
kets about the same as sheep mutton. I sell it to my neighbors at 4:^ cents per pound, 
and in town I sell it at 5 and 6 cents per pound. — H. T. Fuchs, Tiger Mills, Tex. 

It is better than mutton, being free from the oily taste of sheep meat and partaking 
somewhat of the fia\«r of wild meat. — George A. Houck, Eugene, Oreg. 

Angora mutton is far superior to that of sheep and brings just as much on the mar- 
ket. Being free from disease, why not? — Josephus R. Barnetie, Globe, Ariz. 

Superior, as they live principally upon leaves and weeds, which gives to the meat 
a game flavor. — W. T. Mclntire, Kansas City, Mo. 

It takes an expert to tell the difference; and, if there is a difference, it is in favor 
of the Angora. — Harris & Baylor, Montell, Tex. 

I believe it is superior in that it is absolutely pure, with no superfluous fat, and is 
as tender as the finest of venison. — E. H. Jobson, Lake Valley, N. Mex. 

I prefer the Angora or common goat flesh to that of sheep, though I have seen 
many people who could not tell the difference. — H. I. Kimball, Maxwell City, N. Mex. 

I consider one as good as the other. — Abe Blackburn, North Yamhill, Oreg. 

Young goats are fine meat, but old wethers are tough and strong, although good 
when boiled tender and served cold. — Oscar Tom, Angora, Oreg. 

The young wethers make the best of mutton. The meat is rich and juicy and free 
from the strong taste so common to the meat of the common goat. I consider it 
equal to mutton. AVe have sold hundreds of head for mutton, always reserving the 
skins, which are worth green from 75 cents to $2 each. — C. P. Bailey, San Jose, Col. 

I think one is equally as good as the other. — J. T. Wain, Salem, Oreg. 

Angora is very much the best. — U. S. Grant, Dallas, Oreg. 

It takes an expert to tell the difference, or to tell Angora mutton from venison 
where the goat had access to brush. — Cook & Buck, Oskaloosa, Kans. 

I value Angora mutton 50 per cent above sheep mutton. — V. Cladek, Laricood, Oreg. 

Angora flesh is worth 12 per cent more than mutton.— Richardson Bros., Dubuque, 
Iowa. 

It is preferable to mutton, as it does not have the woolly flavor so objectionable 
to many people. During the browsing season the meathas a venison flavor, but this 
is lost when corn is fed in the feed lot. — R. C. Johnston, Lawrence, Kans. 

I am sorry we have no regular market for goat meat. It is as fine as venison when 
killed in condition and properly cooked. — W. Brown, Salem, Oreg. 

Local butchers will pay 10 cents per pound for the carcass dressed, the seller retain- 
ing the pelt, which brings $2. — 7, McGovern, Libby, Mont. 



5ui..hTi-, No. 27 B. A. I. 



Plate VII. 




Fig. 1.— Angora Buck Pasha." 

(Photograph furnished by C. P. Bailey & Sons Company, San Jose, Cal.) 




Fig. 2.— a Yearling Angora in Cape Colony. 

(From the American Sheep Breeder.) 



Bulletin No. 27, B. A. I. 



Plate VIII. 




THE ANGORA GOAT. 49 

The marl^eU. — One of the tirst questions to be considered by a man 
who is about to embark in stock raisins: of any kind is the markets for 
his surplus. This question is first because it is the principal one and 
all important. The one who proposes to begin with a flock of 
thoroughbred or high-grade Angoras, such as will yield merchantable 
mohair, will not need to consider markets, as the increase will be 
employed to produce mohair; but a large number of flocks will be 
built up in the future, as they have been in the past, by the use of does 
of the common breed. This method will necessitate getting rid of 
every wether for two or three years. All does, of course, are kept for 
breeding with purebred bucks. It will be ascertained that the fleece 
of low grades is barely worth the cost of clipping it; that the skin is 
not so valuable for leather as that of the common goat; and that, as a 
rug or robe, the pelts are not so valuable as those of the higher grades. 
Therefore, if there is to be any profit from this part of a flock, there 
must be a market for the meat. 

So many questions concerning this phase of the industry have come 
to the Bureau of Animal Industry that, in collecting data for this 
paper, it was decided to go- beyond the newspaper accounts and ascer- 
tain the facts from the actual producers themselves. The question 
submitted was, "Do you have any difliculty in disposing of your sur- 
plus Angoras for meat?" The answers have been invariably in the 
negative. It should be said, however, that in the Northwest very few 
are used for meat. They are considered more valuable there as brush 
destroyers. The conditions obtaining there are not found in all locali- 
ties where Angoras are raised. In many places Angoras will be kept 
where, instead of permitting them to destroy the brush utterly, efforts 
will be made to preserve brush pasture for them; in the Southwest 
they are not all required for destroying brush, and thousands must be 
sent to market. 

The reason why goats are not seen oftener in the market reports of 
receipts and shipments is that they pass as sheep. It is stated, how- 
ever, that increasing numbers are seen in the larger markets. In the 
Union Stock Yards of Chicago as many as 8,000 w^ere received in one 
week last year. 

While the goats pass as sheep, they are also sold to consumers as 
sheep. They have not 3^et brought as good prices as sheep, and it can 
not be hoped that they will do so until there is the same demand for 
their mutton, which w^ll come as soon as the prejudice against goats 
disappears. The difference is very slight in some places. In Kansas 
City, for instance, the sheep bring about one-half a cent per pound 
more than goats. The packers buy them as goats and sell them as 
sheep in the form of dressed meat or canned. 
11786— No. 27—01 ± 



50 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

Some of the answers to the question submitted by the Bureau are 
appended: 

You ask if I have any difficulty in disposing of goats for meat. None at all. The 
packers here buy goats as goats and sell them as sheep. They make a difference of 
about half a cent a pound in favor of sheep when buying, and, as they never sell 
goats, they save that difference in selling. — Thomas H. Mastin, Kansas City, Mo. 

None whatever. — W. G. Hughes & Co., Hastings, Tex. 

Angoras bring now in Kansas City and Chicago within 4 or 5 per cent of the price 
of ranch sheep, while ten or twelve years ago not half that much could be obtained. 
Were it not for their unpopular name "goat," the meat would bring by far the 
highest prices in the retail markets — provided, of course, that they reach the market 
in proper condition. — G. A. Hoerle, Ridgewood, N. J. 

I sell readily at the four large markets within 25 to 40 cents per hundredweight of 
the same grade of sheep. They are purchased by the packers. They dress out 
more meat than sheep. — B. C. Johnston, Lawrence, Kans. 

We do not have to dispose of them for meat, as there are parties always anxious to 
buy. We would have no trouble to dispose of them for meat if we wanted to. — Rich- 
ardson Bros., Dubuque, Iowa. 

AVe do not. It usually sells for a little less than mutton. — C. P. Bailey, San 
Jose, Cal. 

There is no sale here for goat meat. Wethers are generally used for their mohair 
or clearing land of brush. — Oscar Tom, Angora, Oreg. 

There is not much use being made of them except for clearing land. A few are 
occasionally slaughtered here. — Abe Blackburn, North Yamhill, Oreg. 

The demand for mutton goats is greater than the supply. We get good values for 
the mutton. — E. H. Jobson, Lake Valley, N. Mex. 

They sell as readily as sheep, but bring from 25 to 50 cents per hundredweight less 
on the market. — IF. T. Mclntire, Kansas City, Mo. 

None sold for meat here. — V. Cladek, Larivood, Oreg. 

So far all goats are wanted for clearing brush land, and there is no trouble in sell- 
ing them. — W. Brown, Salem, Oreg. 

We have a local market which can use three times as much as we produce. — 
Josephus R. Barnette, Globe, Ariz. 

Never had a surplus yet, being in demand at fair prices for clearing land. — George 
A. Houck, Eugene, Oreg. 

None at all. If fat, the packers will buy them readily. If not, the sheep feeders 
will buy them for fattening.— MZ/ia/u L. Black, Fort McKavett, Tex. 

Have not. Have used and sold very few for meat, as they are in demand as brush 
killers. — /. R. Standley, Platteville, Iowa. 

None at all. I could sell hundreds and thousands as easy as I could sell sheep.— 
H. T. Fuchs, Tiger Mills, Tex. 

AVe do riot, but on account of a prejudice agamst the name "goat," we have to sell 
at about 50 cents less than sheep bring. — Conklin Bros., Newville, Cal. 

THE MILK. 

The Angora is not primaril}^ a milch goat, and is not often emploA^ed 
for that purpose. The information at hand indicates that the quantity 
of milk given by an Angora doe is uncertain, and only in exceptional 



THE AI^GORA GOAT. 



51 



cases does the amount approach that given by the established breeds 
of milch goats, such as the Toggenburg, Malta, and Nubian breeds. 
Some of the records of the earlier importations of Angoras into the 
United States show that some of them were milked with success. At 
this time, however, they are not recommended as milch goats; they 
are more useful in other lines. It is stated upon the authority of some 
of the oldest breeders in the country that the likelihood of finding a 
good milch goat among the Angoras diminishes as the grade of the 
goat is raised. The milking qualities evidently come from the side of 
the short-haired goats. 

The quality of Angora milk is said to be equal to that of any other 
breed, and more nearly equal to human milk than that of any other 
animal. For this reason it is considered the best substitute for mothers' 
milk for infants. An analysis of goats' milk for the British Goat 
Society, with an analysis of cows' milk for comparison, is shown in 
the table below. It should be stated that the cows' milk was from a 
cow which was a winner at a dairy show. 



Comparison of analyses of goats' milk and cows' milk. 



Element. 


Goats' 
milk. 


Cows 


' milk. 


Water 


Per cent. 
83.21 
7.30 
4.18 
4.10 
1.21 


Pel 


cent. 
87.56 


Butter fat - 


3.63 


Casein 








8.81 


Ash 










Total 


100 




100 







The milk has an additional value in that the animal is practically 
immune to tuberculosis. Less than a dozen cases of tuberculosis in 
goats are recorded. 



THE SKINS. 



The use of Angora skins, other than for robes, rugs, and trimmings 
as described below, is not very extensive. The skin is of a more delicate 
constitution than that of the common goat, and so does not make such 
tough leather. While the skin ma}^ be taken as an item of salvage 
from an animal that has died or been killed for meat, it would not be 
profitable to raise them for leather alone. If such skins happen to 
have a good fleece upon them, they will be worth more for robes or 
rugs, but even then they would not be profitable alone. There must 
be other sources of profit in addition to the skins. Angora skins are 
manufactured into morocco for use in binding books, and excellent 
gloves are made from them which bring from |1 to $1.50 per pair. 

An impression is widespread, based upon immature consideration, 
that Angora skins may soon supplant the great number of goatskins 



52 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

which we now import for leather, but the quality of the skin precludes 
any such possibility. Upon this point the Oregon Agriculturist sa3\s: 

It is a natural mistake to suppose that Angora goatskins are worth as much, pound 
for pound, as common goatskins. We have several times noted the fact that this is 
not the case. Angora skins, after the mohair has been sheared off, will bring only a 
little over one-half as much per pound as the skins of the common goat. 

The only way to keep at home the greater part of the money now sent abroad to 
pay for goatskins wall be to raise enough common goats in the United States to 
supply the demand. 

Hides should be kept clean and should be dried in the shade; sun- 
dried hides are worthless. If the skins are to be tanned soon after 
being removed, they ma}^ be salted. If they are not to be tanned 
soon, they should be dried. 

ROBES, RUGS, AND TRIMMINGS. 

Angora pelts are used quite extensively as carriage robes, and they 
make up into very handsome ones. There was a time when the buffalo, 
the wolf, and other wild animals supplied the demand for robes in this 
country, but the extinction, practicalh% of the buffalo and the great 
scarcity of the other animals has forced us to look elsewhere for sub- 
stitutes. An effort is being made to substitute hides of the Galloway 
and Polled Angus l^reeds of cattle, but their high cost will prevent 
their extensive use. 

These conditions have resvdted in a greater demand for Angora 
skins for robes. The skin is sufficiently tough for the purpose, and 
the fleece is easily dyed any desirable color. This characteristic has 
enabled unscrupulous dealers to sometimes pass them off^ on purchasers 
as the skins of some rare animals. In their natural color, the white- 
ness and brilliancy of which can not be excelled, the skins of the kids 
and younger does are made up into robes for bab}^ carriages. There 
are probably a greater number used for this purpose at the present 
time than in any other way. 

As a general statement it may be said that Angora pelts are worth 
from $2 to $3. The real value depends upon man}^ things — such as 
the size of the skin, the length of the fleece upon it, and the time of 
year that it is taken. 

As rugs these skins are found in many households, and they are both 
ornamental and durable. They may be used in their original white- 
ness, or be dyed any color to suit. Their softness makes them very 
desirable. 

They are extensively used for trimming for children's cloaks and 
coats. Some first-class skins have brought as high as ^18 apiece for 
this purpose., 

Mr. William R. Payne, of New York City, who has had much experi- 
ence in handling goatskins, says: 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 53 

Angora skins properly dressed are used, white or tinted, to manufacture rugs, robes, 
carriage mats, fur sets for children, trimming for ladies' furs, and also for dusters, 
horse head tassels, doll hair, and wigs. They are mostly imported raw from Cape of 
Good Hope and Turkey, and range in value, duty paid, from $1.50 up to $3.50 each, 
undressed. Domestic skins are worth from 50 cents for kids up to |2 each for large 
full-fleeced pelts. The low, crossbred, common skins and short pelts not suitable to 
dress are used by morocco and glove leather manufacturers, and are worth from 15 
to 18 cents a pound for large sizes down to 10 aud 11 cents for small ones and kids. 

PROTECTION FOR fSlTEEI'. 

The ability and inclination of the buck to fig-ht varmints has made 
him in many places a valuable acquisition in herds of sheep. It is 
said that dog-s and wolves will not only not attack a grown goat, but 
will not venture into a herd of sheep where there is a buck goat. Many 
owners of sheep in this country recognize the value of the goat in this 
respect, and keep one or more for the purpose of protection for their 
sheep. This practice is especially desirable in pastures where there is 
no herder or immediate oversight. If one or two goats are placed when 
young in a herd of sheep they will remain with them all the time. An 
extensive breeder of Pennsylvania says: "While goats do not fear 
dogs, and will even fight, I prefer to keep dogs out. I have seen them 
drive a dog out of the yard, and oftentimes a single goat will protect 
a flock of sheep from attacks by dogs." If the}'^ are old and not accus- 
tomed to being with sheep, they will in all probability keep to them- 
selves, away from the sheep. They may be depended upon to do thfs 
certainly if there is quite a number of them. They are more rapid 
walkers and more inclined to wander than sheep, and so will flock by 
themselves. Their protection to sheep will thus prove a failure. 

It is quite amusing to see the courage of a doe when she protects her young kid 
from a dog, or hog, or flock of buzzards. Two of my neighbors' dogs got in the 
habit of killing my kids, and one doe protected her kid quite a while from the two 
large, vicious dogs until the neighbor caught one of the dogs and gave him a good 
whipping, when the goat assisted in this work by butting the dog with all her might. 
You should train the goats to be brave by taking your dogs into the goat pen with 
you, and, in case .the dog refuses to run from a brave goat, scold the dog to make 
the goat think that she whipped him. If you had a tame w^olf trained in that way 
you could train your goats to fight wolves. — H. T. Fuchs. 

ENRICHMENT OF LAND. 

The enrichment of land from the droppings of goats is decidedly 
noticeable wherever they are kept for a year or more. This factor is 
of no small importance where goats have been employed to clear the 
brush from land with the object in view of turning the land into grass 
pasture. Such land, especially if hilly and rocky, is usually in need 
of fertilizers of any kind if cropping is to be attempted upon it. 
The manure of goats and sheep is about equal in value. A Cali- 
fornia firm has been selling Angora manure for fertilizing fruit trees 



54 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

and lawns for several years. They get $6 a ton (delivered) for it 
in carload lots. Manure is considered as one of the resources in 
the best system of modern farming, audit should betaken into account 
by anyone who is keeping goats or contemplating doing so. 

THEIR USE AS PETS. 

The purebred Angoras are very graceful, and their beautifull}^ 
shaped bodies and fine silky hair make them ver}^ attractive. There 
is no animal, except possibly the horse, that is more beautiful than 
these g-oats, and no animal is more cleanly in his habits. As pets for 
children they are very popular, if they can be kept where they will be 
harmless to vegetation and anything made of cloth. They have all 
the propensities of the common goat for destroying fruit trees and 
chewing any kind of cloth and of climbing upon roofs. All kinds of 
goats are mischievous in the extreme. The Angoras are tractable and 
are often harnessed to carts, as are common goats, and their beauty 
makes them more desirable for this purpose. 

BY-PRODUCTS. 

In the modern methods of economic production and manufacture 
nothing is permitted to go to waste. Whoever it was that said face- 
tiousl}^ that the packers saved every portion of a hog but his squeal 
spoke the whole truth. The same truth applies as well to the carcass 
of any food animal. In the case of goats the horns find many uses, 
and the fat is said to be the best tallow known for the manufacture of 
candles. Any part of the carcass not useful in any other Avay is con- 
verted into fertilizer. 

LOCALITIES ADAPTED TO ANGORA CULTURE. 



So far as temperature is concerned, no place has been found that is 
too hot or too cold for Angoras. Although not partial to heat, they 
will stand it quite as easily as sheep. Shade is essential to success if 
the sunshine is very warm. 

The climate in Angora, where the breed originated and is still sup- 
posed to flourish in its more perfect state, is extreme. A temperature 
as high as 85° F. is registered in the summer and as low as 0*^ F. in 
the winter. In Cape of Good Hope, where they are thriving well, the 
temperature goes higher in the summer, but not so low in the winter. 
The United States presents a wider range of temperature, where, in 
southern Texas and New Mexico, it may go above 100° F. in the sum- 
mer, and in Idaho as low as 30° F. below zero in winter. The range 
of localities where Angoras have done well is from Guadalupe Islands, 
in the Lesser Antilles, to Ukamak Island, belonging to the Alaska Pen- 
insula. Mr. M. L. Washburn, superintendent for the Alaska Com- 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 55 

mercial Compaii}^ at Kadiak, says: "On Ukamak Island we have a 
flock of Angora goats, Avhich have increased 60 per cent a 3^ear since 
they were placed there. They have given very good results in mohair, 
which is of good quality and fine texture." There are a few small 
flocks in New England and in nearly every State west until the Pacific 
Ocean is reached. The Western States have many thousands. Mr. 
William M. Landrum is quoted as follows: 

"White goats can stand any amount of cold and snow, but sleet and wind are very- 
injurious. On the other hand, they can endure the scorching heat of the Tropics. 
Their fleece is best at an altitude of from 3^000 to 6,000 feet above the sea level. The 
fleece never sheds on the Guadalupe Island, 210 miles from San Diego, at an altitude 
of only from 2,000 t(j 4,000 feet. I have grown mohair there 2 feet long, of lovely 
texture. We had 80,000 wild goats roaming on the island without any attention, 
except in slaughtering season, when we sheared the Angoras and slaughtered from 
14,000 to 15,000 common goats for their hides and tallow. The goats all ran wild 
and took care of themselves. We were not at one dollar expense on them. 

In considering Angora culture it is of more importance to stud}^ the 
climate with reference to moisture rather than temperature. It should 
be remembered that the original home of the goat is high up in the 
mountains, where the air is not laden with moisture. Under like con- 
ditions it thrives best here. Lowlands that are Avet or marshy are not 
at all suitable. The effect of such situations soon makes itself appar- 
ent in a flock of goats. Foot rot is apt to give endless trouble, and 
the feet will need much attention in other respects. Therefore low- 
lands with much moisture and high temperature are not recommended 
for goat culture. It is a historical fact that the first effort to trans- 
plant the Angora goat outside of Asia was a failure on account of 
these conditions. This was in 1554, when a few individuals were taken 
to Holland, but they soon died, owing to the moist climate. 

The effect of climate has a great deal to do with the character of 
mohair. On this point Mr. John S. Harris, of Oakley, Idaho, who is 
a gentleman of much experience, is quoted: 

Mohair grown here in Idaho is very bright when scoured, and, owing to the elec- 
tric currents which exist in the air, the hair possesses elasticity, a property requisite 
to mohair. Goats do not grow a long staple here, but owing to the cold it is very 
dense. Neither do they grow so heavy a fleece as in a milder climate, owing to the 
dryness of the air. Plenty of green, natural herbage the year round would produce 
a heavier fleece and ultimately deteriorate its quality. 

A high altitude is a locality always preferable in goat culture. This 
is especially true with Angoras, as the climate in high altitudes seems 
to have a beneficial effect upon the mohair. 

Colonel Black, whose experience covers a period of thirty years, 
says that the Angora goat will thrive in any part of our country, and 
the yield of mohair will be greatest in the colder States. He estimates 
that the yield can be increased fully 1 pound by removing the goats 
from Texas to any of the Northern States. 



56 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY, 

CHARACTER OF SOIL. 

Almost any kind of soil, except wet and marshy land, is suitable 
for these goats. Their preference is mountainous or rocky land, 
where they find it necessary to climb mountain sides and rock}" cliffs 
to browse. Such situations not onl}" afford them satisfaction in climb- 
ing and feeding, but the rocks serve to keep the feet trimmed. This is 
an important matter, for on soils devoid of stones or sand the feet must 
oftentimes be trimmed by hand. 

One of the reasons for the freedom of goats from most diseases is 
that they require pure water, and in no place is better water found 
than in the springs and rivulets of hilly or rocky localities. Goats also 
require much exercise, much more than sheep, and such situations 
satisfy this inclination. 

However, it must not be understood that rocks and hills are essen- 
tial, although they provide for the goat an ideal situation. As stated 
above, almost any kind of soil is suitable except wet and marshy land. 
Goats are not partial to water in any form — in the soil or in the form 
of rain, snow, or sleet — and they drink a very small amount. Keep the 
goats dry overhead and under foot. 

LAND AVAILABLE FOR GOAT CULTURE. 

The habits of goats, as set forth in the earlier paragraphs of this 
paper, suggest at once to the informed person that there are in the 
United States millions of acres of land suitable for goat culture which 
are now serving no economic purpose whatever. Much of this would 
answer for sheep raising, but much more of it is suitable for goats 
only. 

In the northwestern States there are hundreds of thousands of acres 
of forest land which, on account of the forest cov^ering, is useless, but 
when goats clear it of all underbrush and put it in proper condition 
for cultivation, as they are doing there at this time, the land becomes 
more valuable foi' other kinds of farm crops. In other places there 
is much brush land which it is desirable to have goats transform into 
good pasture land, and there are also vast acres of mountainous and 
hilly districts which are ideal locations for Angora goats, but Avhich 
could be of no importance as pasture or as tillable land. 

Capt. Almont Barnes, in the article entitled ''Keeping goats for 
profit," makes some estimates of the amount of unimproved land in 
the country, basing his calculations upon the reports of the Eleventh 
Census. He finds that the total amount of unimproved land in the 
United States is 265,000,000 acres. In Maine there are 0,000,000 acres 
in farms, of which 3,000,000 are improved; in Georgia are 25,000,000 
in farms, of which 9,500,000 are improved. He concludes: 

There is, however, in the United States a large, continuous area, embracing over 
one-third of the States and Territories, which invites particular attention in connec- 
tion with this subject. It includes tlie South Atlantic and South Central divisions 



.LETiN No. 27, B. A. I. 



Plate IX 



mw 




Bulletin No. 27, B. A. I. 



Plate X. 




THE ANGORA GOAT. , 57 

and a part of the Western division of the Census groupings \ or twenty States and 
Territories, which together contain nearly 285,000,000 acres in farms, of which over 
122,000,000 are improved and over 162,000,000, or 57 per cent, unimproved. The 
average size of farms and the average amounts of unimproved land are greater in 
this area than elsewhere, and the climatic conditions are more uniform. 

It is safe to say that it will be many years before the matter of 
available land for goat culture becomes a problem. It is sufficient at 
this time to know that there is an abundance of suitable land every- 
where in the country. 

Mr. W. Hammond Tooke, in the Agricultural Journal of Cape of 
Good Hope for May, 1899, says: 

He [Schreiner] admits that it is generally agreed that very large portions of the 
States are well adapted to Angora goats, an opinion formed from actual experience 
over a number of years. This being so, it is difficult to understand how it is that 
the industry has progressed so slowly, seeing that the hair is valuable, the skins in 
great demand, the flesh prized as good, and the tallow as good as any that reaches 
the Chicago market. It is not more easy to understand when it is considered that 
large portions of the country are suitable for goats and not suitable for sheep. 

There seems no reason, therefore, to the outsider why the industry should not make 
almost as rapid progress in the States as it has in South Africa. 

THE CARE OF ANGORA GOATS. 

The preceding pages have no doubt given the impression that 
Angora goats are very hardy, and, indeed, it is true, especially if their 
foundation is upon crosses with the common goat; but this should not 
be taken b}^ the careless or shiftless man as a license to subject his 
goats to all manner of discomfort with the expectation that the results 
will be fully as satisfactory as if rational attention were given them. 
That these animals can withstand extreme cold, such as that of the 
islands of Alaska, or extreme heat, such as that of Guadalupe Island, 
is strong evidence of their fortitude and of their adaptability to a 
wide range of temperature under proper care. The same fortitude is 
exhibited by horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, but no one thinks of turn- 
ing these domesticated animals out upon their own resources, as wild 
animals are forced to exist. That they can subsist upon vegetation 
which is utterly useless for any other purpose is evidence simply of 
their economical keeping; it does not permit one to conclude that they 
never need any other kind of feed at times. In a word, it is intended 
here to impress the fact that, if satisfactoiy results are to be obtained 
in goat raising, the animals must receive the same rational treatment 
that is received by other live stock when best results are sought. The 
goat is a hardy animal in the fullest sense of the word, but this char- 
acteristic only enables him to respond the more quickly and satisfac- 
torily to careful treatment. 

^ South Atlantic division: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West 
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida; South Central division: 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas; 
Western division: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Ne- 
vada, Idaho, Washmgton, Oregon, California. 



58 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



HERDING AND FENCING. 



Goats require a great amount of exercise, much more than sheep. 
The one is b}^ nature a browser and the other a grazer, and the brows- 
ing habit naturally requires more activity on the part of the goats. 
They are sensitive to restraint and do better if not herded, but of 
course this is often a necessity, and therefore should be done under as 
favorable circumstances as possible. So far as possible they should not 
be allowed to feel their restraint. If constant attendance is necessary, 
the herder should be of quiet disposition. The next best thing to the 
freedom of a range is a large pasture, where the goats may have over- 
sight, but not constant attendance. Such pastures are considered the 
cheapest method of keeping these goats. They can easily be trained 
to come home by feeding a little and salting regularly at home. 

The fencing for pastures is a matter which early concerns one who 
contemplates going into the business, for it is the current belief that 
goats will climb onto any shed of ordinary height or jump any fence 
that will stop other animals. While they will climb anything* that is 
built in such a manner that it ma}^ be climbed easil}', they will not jump 
any ordinary fence. They will, however, creep through if there is an 
opening large enough. The old-fashioned "worm "fence, especially 
if it leans outward, will not stop goats. The angles in such a fence 
are an incentive and a delight to them. Indeed, there are many hogs 
that will go over a fence of this kind. 

In building a goat fence there are other matters to be taken into 
account than simply that the goats shall be kept in: the animals them- 
selves (especially the 3'oung ones) must be protected from dogs and 
wolves from the outside. In the Southwest it is much more important 
to fence to keep varmints out than it is to fence to keep the goats in. 
So the double object must be kept in view in building a goat fence. 
Such a fence must be dogproof , hogproof , and wolfproof. A hog at 
liberty which has once had the taste of chicken, or lamb, or kid is a 
greater nuisance than any wolf or dog, and should be dispatched as 
being an enemy to other young live stock as well as kids. 

One correspondent of the Bureau constructs a fence of ten-barbed 
hog wires, with posts set 20 feet apart, having three stays between the 
posts. The lowest wire is only 1 inch from the ground; the next four 
wires 3i inches apart, and one-half inch added to every space above. 
It is necessary that all the wires should be kept very tight. This 
correspondent adds the interesting note that many wolves are killed 
by screw worms in wounds received while attempting to crawl 
through such a fence. A good fence may be made of woven wire 3 
feet high, drawn on the inside of the posts, and a closel}^ barbed 
strand of wire 3 or 4 inches above fastened to the outside of the posts 
to prevent animals from jumping in. A straight rail fence, if the 
rails are laid close enough, as well as an ordinary board fence, will 
turn goats. 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 59 

Mr. Jobson says that a five-board panel fence 4 feet high is suffi- 
cient for goats. He also says that zigzag, or worm, fences are an 
incentive for the goats to climb, and that they will walk along the top 
of such fences as easil}^ as on the ground. 

If they are permitted to climb onto the roofs of buildings it will 
not be long before they will have them completelj^ ruined. 

SHELTER AND PENS. 

A shelter is necessary during wet spells, and more especially if the 
rain is cold or in case of a sleet storm. Dry cold alone has little or 
no injurious effect after the kids are three or four weeks old, and they 
will even frolic in the snow when the mercury is at zero, and sleep 
with apparent comfort in an open shed. With their dense covering 
there is no reason wh}^ this should not be true; but this same dense 
covering, when soaked with cold water or driven full of sleet, is a 
deadly menace. Goats will not get wet if they have an opportunity^ 
to avoid it. They appreciate a shelter and will always seek it at night, 
and during the day in the event of storms. They are said to be excel- 
lent barometers, being able to foretell stormy weather, and always 
contrive to place themselves under shelter before the advance of a 
storm, if possible. Mr. Diehl says they will run miles to avoid an 
undesirable rain. 

Goats should not be left on the range or in pasture over night. The 
latter is practiced to a considerable extent, but experience has shown 
that they are safer in closer confinement during the nighttime. 

The pens in which the goats are kept at night should, above all 
things, be in such a location that the}^ can be kept dry by drainage. 
Other live stock should be excluded, as they would only help to 
trample the ground into mud. They should have a dry place to stand 
and sleep, for they are apt to contract rheumatism in the knees. There 
would be little use in raising Angoras for their fleeces if they are com- 
pelled to wade through mud and filth, or be confined under these con- 
ditions. The fleece would soon become so soiled and matted as to be 
a "burden unto death." 

The sheds provided for their shelter must be of a size to give an 
abundance of room. The goats should not, under any circumstances, 
be huddled together. If they are thus crowded in cold weather they 
will pile up, with the result that some of the younger ones will die 
from suffocation. One writer states that he has known as high as 30 
being killed in this manner in one night. Mr. Oscar Tom, of Angora, 
Oreg., describes a shelter that proves satisfactory in the following 
language: 

The sheds should have eave troughs, and Be boarded down to within 3 or 4 feet of 
the ground. There should be a ditch around the shed to prevent any water from 
running into it, and it should be open all around, so that the goats would not have to 
wait for others ahead of them to go in; a few cross ones could not block the way and 



60 BURKAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

keep other goats in or out, and the rain would not blow in, but the goats would Tiave 
plenty of fresh air. There should be a good fence around the shed at a distance of 
at least 50 yards, to keep cattle and horses from trampling up the ground and work- 
ing it into mud. Have the fence high enough for the goats to go under, but never 
allow hogs to run into the goat shed, for goats are easily frightened after dark. 

In some parts of the country the strong winds will blow rain under 
a shed such as Mr. Tom describes. In such cases, the side from which 
these storms usually come might be boarded to the ground. A better 
plan, in the opinion of some, is to have a few solid movable panels of 
fence to place around the openings of the shed on such occasions. 
This plan is convenient, too, as the panels may be taken away in fair 
weather, thus permitting a free circulation of air from all sides. 

Shelter from the sun's rays should be provided for summer time. 
Although goats are able to withstand intense heat, they do not thrive 
well when subjected to it. For this purpose sheds more open than 
that described above are preferred, for the reason that the air will 
have freer circulation. Better yet than a shed against the sun's rays 
are large trees. In this case there is no obstruction whatever to the 
air. 

FEEDING. 

The principal reason why goats will be raised instead of sheep in 
some places is because the}^ are practically inexpensive so far as feed- 
ing is concerned. This phase of the subject is quite fully discussed 
under the head of "Browsing and pasturage" (p. 26). The}^ eat the 
leaves in summer and the soft twigs in winter, and if there is- an 
abundance of either they will not require anything else to sustain life; 
but this condition exists only in certain localities, and other means 
must be adopted elsewhere. They are fond of straw and fodder of 
any kind. Plate XI shows where a herd in Iowa has access to a straw 
stack. 

Notwithstanding the ability of goats to subsist upon coarse fodder 
in the winter season, the impression must not be held that they will 
thrive well upon it in the absence of browse. They will extract from 
these fodders all the nourishment obtainable, which is not very great, 
but must receive some supplementary feed. Any kind of grain will 
answer this purpose. Probably the best feed is oats, and if it is sheaf 
oats better still. In Texas some of the large goat raisers feed cotton 
seed by scattering it upon the snow so that goats will have to exercise 
somewhat in picking it up; besides, the time consumed in picking up 
the seed thus scattered insures better mastication. 
• In feeding grain care must be taken not to make the supply too 
liberal, unless the object is to fatten for slaughter. Goats easily 
become lazy on a plentiful supph^ of grain and will decline to go out 
to feed upon the brush. This is an important point, as their hardi- 
ness to a large extent is attributed to their feeding upon browse and to 
the resulting exercise. 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 61 

As to the coarse feed for winter use, straw is eaten with relish; 
corn fodder is better and more nourishing; clov^er and alfalfa hay are 
excellent. Indeed, very little grain will be required where either 
clover or alfalfa hay is provided. Mr. Hoerle says: 

The quantity of food necessary to keep them in good condition varies according to 
the cUmate, but one-fourth pound of corn or its equivalent in other grain and IJ 
pounds of hay at a ration is about a fair average. With abundant winter pasture 
this ration once a day (in the evening) is sufficient; if the pasture is scant, they 
ought to have it both morning and evening, and on wet, cold days, when they are 
kept in the sheds all day, feed them three times or make their rations correspond- 
ingly larger. They should be taught early to eat their hay chopped, moistened, and 
sprinkled with bran, oil meal, or corn meal, which, if it digests easier if given in that 
way, will save about 20 per cent of the feed. They should also be taught to eat 
ensilage where practicable. 

Sugar-beet pulp has been fed with success. The goats must be 
taught to eat it, but after once learning the}^ seem not to be able to 
get enough. 

In feeding either hay or grain absolute cleanliness must rule, as 
goats will not eat soiled food. There is no animal more particular 
about his food than the goat. He has no inclination for mud or filth 
in which to stand or walk, much less having to pick his food out of it. 
Bryan Hook, author of Milch Goats and Their Management,^ says: 

The goat is of all animals the most fastidious in the matter of the cleanliness of its 
food, refusing, even though ever so hungry, to eat food that has been soiled or trodden 
under foot. For this reason a rack should be provided for the hay, and only as much 
given at each meal as the animal will consume, for that which has been trampled 
under foot will ever after be rejected, even though carefully collected and replaced 
in the rack. 

When the production of mohair is reduced to a fine art, the question 
of feed will receive the most careful consideration, because of its influ- 
ence upon the fiber. 

The replies received by the Bureau to the question ' " Do you feed 
in winter ''i If so, what is the character of feed ? " are interesting in 
man}^ particulars. It will be observed that in the Southwest the treat- 
ment of goats in winter is not ver}^ difi'erent from that received b}^ 
them in the summer. Below are given quotations from some of the 
letters received, credit being given to States only: 

Winters being mild, do not feed. — Arizona. 

I have to feed here. They like alfalfa best. In southern New Mexico they never 
need any feed, and are good mutton the year round. — New Mexico. 

We do not feed, there being plenty of evergreen brush. — Neic Mexico. 

Feed only during severe storms, perhaps an average of three days in the winter, 
and then any kind of good hay will suffice. — Texas. 

Feed some poor old goats on cotton seed and hay. — Texas. 

AVinters are mild, and the goats live on evergreen brush (four kinds). — Texas. 



^Vinton & Co., Limited. London, 1896. 



62 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

Feed only when the ground is covered with snow and sleet. I like shelled corn 
best. Feed in troughs or scattered on the snow. — Texas. 

Yes; in stormy winters we feed hay so placed that they can run to it in the shed, 
for they must have shelter. — Oregon. 

Native hay. — Oregon. 

Very little; a few oats, and straw. — Oregon. 

We manage to cut grubs in winter, but give them some straw; will eat most any 
kind of straw or hay. — Oi^egon. 

I feed out in the prairie, along with the sheej); feed wild hay and lucern (alfalfa). — 
Idaho. 

Hay, oat hay, and corn from shock, unhusked; some roots, and more or less 
bran. — Iowa. 

Sheaf oats, fodder, straw, and hay in spring. — Iowa. 

They run on the range all winter. — Texas. 

Have never had occasion to feed, except during a snowstorm, when we cut down 
branches of live oak. — Texas. 

Do not feed, except the bucks at breeding time; give them wheat hay and barley. — 
Texas. 

In Nevada we feed our kids some alfalfa hay, at night, for two or three months. — 
Nevada. 

I find shelled oats best for weakly ones; usually cut brush for the main herd dur- 
ing winter months. — Oregon. 

We find clover hay and wheat and oats cut in the dough. We prefer that to any- 
thing else. — Oregon. 

Stock fodder and clover hay. They will do well on the same feed as sheep. — 
Missouri. 

Not much grain, a little corn fodder, and wheat straw. — Kansas. 

Shredded corn fodder, wheat straw, and a little corn in bad weather. — Kansas. 



Goat.s require mpre salt than sheep, owing to the more astringent 
character of their food. If loose salt is used, the general custom is to 
give it once a week on regular da3^s. If rock salt is used, it should be 
placed where the animals can get to it at any time. Rock salt is pref- 
erable, as it can be placed in boxes or troughs raised from the ground, 
and thus be kept out of the dirt and be of easy access to the goats at 
any time; and, too, there is no waste and no danger that the animal 
will eat too much of it. 

MARKING. 

The question of marking is always proper. Several devices are in 
use, but the metal tag in the ear is probably best known. A practice 
which appears to give satisfaction is to tattoo the numbers into the 
ear, using indelible ink. It is found that the metal is sometimes pulled 
out by brush. 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 63 



KIDDING AND THE KIDS. 



The kidding time is the most important in the life of the goats. 
For two or three days after the kids are dropped they are exceedingly 
delicate, and there will be no future success unless good care is given 
at the time. They can not ''rough it" at this period, but will die 
from very little exposure or neglect. They are more delicate for a 
few weeks than lambs. When the kids are large enough to follow 
the flock they have constitutions stronger than lambs of like age and 
are able to care for themselves very well. 

The proper time for kids to arrive is in the spring, about the time 
when leaves start on the trees and bushes. At that time there is milk- 
producing food for the doe, and the weather is also warm enough to 
favor the kids. The exact time may be governed, of course, by the 
service of the bucks and will be earlier in localities where the seasons 
are earlier. If kidding comes in cold weather, there will be greater 
difficulty in saving the kids. Warm stabling must also be provided, 
and the does will require extra feeding in order that they may supply 
milk for the kids. 

A few days before a kid is due the doe should be separated from 
the flock. Some breeders would put her in a pen alone, while others 
would put as many as 20 in one pen. If the facilities are at hand, a 
small pen for each doe is better, for the reasons that the doe will 
sooner " own" the kid and there will be less danger of injury than if 
among a number. A doe knows her kid by the sense of smell, espe- 
cially when it is young. This characteristic is so strong that some 
breeders assert that if two kids of different mothers are rubbed 
together, the does will often refuse to own them. Whoever cares for 
the doe at kidding time will find it an important part of his work to 
see that the does own their kids. This difficulty in any caae will dis- 
appear in a few days, and it will then only be necessary to arrange for 
the does to get to the kids whenever they desire. 

If kids are dropped on the range or in the pasture, they must be 
carried home and special care given to see that the does are made to 
own them, for many times they will refuse. A lamb will follow its 
mother very soon after it is dropped, but a doe will hide her kid as 
best she can in bushes, or behind a stone or log, and leave it there 
while she goes away to feed; and on her return she expects to find it 
where she left it. 

The Mexican method of handling the kid is largely practiced in 
Texas and New Mexico and consists in ''staking," or ''toggling," the 
kid. When the kid is dropped, take it to a protected place (shed or 
barn), seeing to it that the doe follow\s, and ''stake it out" or "toggle" 
it with a string about 11 inches long. Tie this string to one leg, 
changing occasionally to other legs to avoid lameness. This string 
should have a swivel in it to prevent twisting, and the kids should be 



64 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

carefully watched so long as they are so tied, which will he from 
seven to ten days. 

The does should remain with the kids until they leave them of their 
own accord to go out for feed. The kids ma}^ then be allowed to run 
loose in a pen together until they are large enough to go out with the 
flock, which is when they are from four to six weeks' old, or when 
they are able to jump a board from 12 to 20 inches high placed across 
the gate. The height of this board restrains the kids that are too 
small to follow the flock and at the same time enables the does to go 
and come as they please. W. G. Hughes & Co., of Hastings, Tex., 
have a device for separating the does from the kids which is better 
than the board. It is a bridge, either end of which drops to the 
desired height. This device enables the does to go out and in without 
injuring the udder, which is apt to occur where they have to jump a 
board. A picture of this bridge in use is shown in fig. 2 of Plate XH. 

The following is from "California Angoras," published by C. P. 
Bailey & Sons Company: 

There are in use two methods of handling kids at kidding time, namely, the cor- 
ral method and the staking method. Each of these has points which render it 
most valuable under certain conditions and in certain localities. 

The corral method. 

This method may be used with any number of goats. With various modifications 
and adaptations which best suit the size of the flock, the climatic conditions, the facil- 
ities for feeding, etc. , it may be used by the beginner with success. We have practiced 
this method in Nevada for more than twenty-five years. If the herd is a large one, 
say 1,000 head, three men are required to handle the goats at kidding time. The 
service of the bucks is so managed that the kids will be dropped gradually through 
several weeks. At the height of the season we expect from 75 to 100 kids a day. 
The season lasts about thirty or forty days. Fortunately, most of the kids are 
dropped in the daytime. 

We have four or five small corrals, fenced with 36-inch woven wire and large 
enough to hold 50 does and their kids. The doe should be allowed plenty of room, 
because if too close to her neighbor she may adopt the other doe's kid. Besides 
these small corrals, two large ones are needed, each large enough to hold 1,000 does. 
Along the fence of one of these corrals are a dozen small pens just large enough to 
hold a doe and kid. At the gate of this large corral a ;ump board is placed. This 
jump board is intended to keep back those kids which are not large and strong 
enough to jump over it. A 2-inch board about 18 inches high will answer the pur- 
pose. Another device sometimes used is a platform open at the end, so that the kids 
may run under it and thus avoid being trampled upon when the goats are going out 
over the platform. 

The small corrals may be made of panel fence and located in a meadow where 
some feed is afforded. The does should always have some kind of feed at kidding 
time. 

In the morning the flock is carefully examined, and all does which show signs of 
kidding during the day should be separated and placed in one of the small corrals. 
The large flock is now turned out, and one of the men is sent with them with instruc- 
tions to take the herd at once as far as he intends to go for feed that day, and then 



JULLETIN No. 27, B. A. I. 



Plate XI. 




Bulletin No. 27, B. A. I. 



Plate XII. 




Fig. 1 ,— Angora Kids. 

(Illustration furnished by VV. G. Hughes & Co., Hastings, Tex..) 




Fig. 2.— Going to Pasture, i Separation of Dof.s from Kids by Means of Bridge. 

(Illustration furnished by W. G. Hughes & Co., Hastings, Tex.) 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 65 

to let them feed over a limited area and gradually work their way home. A few 
does will drop their kids on the range, and the herder should carefully note the 
number and their location. He should see that the herd does not feed around one 
of these does, as she is apt to leave her kid and join the band, thus necessitating 
much extra work in finding the kid and in giving it to its mother. Early in the 
afternoon the band is placed in one of the large corrals. Now the herder and 
another man go out with a wagon or on foot and carry the kids home, gently driv- 
ing the mothers. The kids should not be handled or rubbed against one another 
more than is necessary, as the doe knows her kid by the scent. These does and 
kids are placed in the small corral which contains the does held back in the morn- 
ing with the expectation that they would kid during the day. We now have one 
day's kidding in one of the small corrals. The does and kids should be watched to 
see that they are properly arranged. Do not bother them more than is absolutely 
necessary. Do not be in a hurry to make a doe own a kid. Do not drive the goats 
around one of the small pens. 

The does should remain with their kids in the corral for a day or two at least, or 
until the kids are properly mothered. Any does which have not kidded should be 
taken out. The next morning any kids which may have been born during the night 
are put in another small corral with their mothers, as well as the does which are 
expected to kid during the day. The procedure of the previous day is repeated. In 
about three days, if one has limited quarters, the first day's mothers and kids may 
be put in the second large corral; that is, the one with the jump board at the gate. 
Now this "wet" band is placed in charge of one of the men and sent out to feed. 
The gate is opened, the mothers passing out over the jump board, and the kids 
remain in the corral. The herder must not range his goats near the does that are 
kidding upon the range, and he should be cautioned to come in later than the "dry" 
band, so as to avoid any possibility of their mixing. When his band arrives at the 
corral the gate is opened, and each mother hunts for her kid. Some of the kids 
may not find their mothers, and if after a day or two there are a few unnourished 
kids and some ^oes with overdistended udders they should be placed together in 
the small pens along the side of the corral. The doe will own the kid in a day or 
two, whether she is its mother or not. The kids should not be allowed to become 
too weak before this is done. If one does not have enough small pens, a doe may be 
held while two or three kids suckle her, and thus tide them over until some of the 
small pens are va'cant. 

The next day the second day's kidding is added to the wet band. The wet band 
thus gradually grows, while the dry band decreases. During the day two men will 
be employed at herding the dry and wet bands, respectively, and the third man will 
be kept iDusy inspecting the kids, feeding the does in confinement, etc. If the 
weather is stormy some of the kids will have to be sheltered. The advisability of 
having the kids dropped gradually through a period of thirty or forty days will 
readily be seen. If help is inexperienced they may be gradually trained, or if the 
w^eather is stormy there will be time to get all things arranged properly. 

The kids should not be allowed to go with their mothers until they are about 6 or 8 
weeks old. If they go before this, they will probably become tired very soon and go 
to sleep. When they awake the band will have gone, and they are liable to be lost. 
During the day, while the mothers are feeding, the kids would eat a little grass if 
they could be herded near the corral. 

As stated before, there may be many modifications of this method which will 
suggest themselves, but the above is a general outline of a method commonly in use. 

The staking method. 

This method is largely employed, even with large flocks, in New Mexico, but is 
possibly best suited to small flocks. It is without doubt the best method for certain 
surroundings. About the same amount of help will be required as with the corral 
11786— No. 27—01 5 



66 BUEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

method. There should he a good supply of stakes similar to tent stakes. There 
should also be a supply of swivel blocks which are about 4 inches long and having 
a hole bored near each end. A piece of rope about 6 inches long is fastened to the 
stake, and the other end is passed through one of the holes in the swivel block and 
a knot tied in the end. Another piece of rope of equal length is likewise knotted 
and passed through the other hole of the swivel block, the loose end being tied to 
the kid's leg. Any swivel will tak", the place of this primitive method. The herder 
or ow^ner can busy himself during the wdnter months by making stakes and swivels 
and by cutting and attaching the ropes. 

When a kid is born it is taken to a convenient place to stake and the mother is 
gently coaxed to follow\ The stake is securely driven into the ground, and the kid 
fastened to it by the hind leg. The mother is left with the kid, in order that she 
may know where to find it upon returning from feeding. The kid should be staked 
where he can get plenty of sunshine, shade, and shelter. A small bush, a post, or a 
box will answ^er the purpose admirably. If there are twins, they must be so staked 
that they can suckle at the same time. The rope should be changed from one hind 
leg to the other occasionally, to prevent unequal development. Sometimes a vigor- 
ous kid gets thoroughly tangled and requires help. 

The kid may thus be left staked until he is old enough to go with the flock, which 
is after six or eight weeks, or he may be put in a corral after a few days, as is done 
in the corral method. 

There are many successful breeders who use this method entirely. One may expect 
to get good results if he follows either the corral or staking method carefully. 

There is very small loss among kids cared for as set forth above. 
Many of the breeders on a large scale report the percentage of increase 
as 100. This does not mean that ever}^ kid lives, but that so few die 
that the loss is offset b}- the number of twins that are dropped. 

The most practicable fencing to be used at kidding time is made of 
portable panels. By the use of these panels a pen may be made large 
or small and be moved from one place to another without difficulty 
and with ver}^ little work. 

Weaning. — Kids should not be weaned until they are 4i months old 
unless they are very strong; but they should not remain with their 
mothers after they are 5 months old. This especially applies to the 
buck kids, as they will often breed at 6 months of age or even 3?'ounger. 

Castration. — The buck kids not reserved for breeding purposes 
should be castrated when about two weeks old. The earlier it is done, 
the better will be the meat and the mohair. It is pointed out in pre- 
vious pages that the mohair from wethers ranks with that from the 
does, and the flesh is superior to that of the does and inferior only in 
small degree to that of the kids. A cool da}^ should always be selected 
for the operation of castration and careful attention given for a few 
days. 

Opinions of correspondents. — The quotations given below are a 
symposium of the opinions of most of the leading breeders of Angora 
goats in the United States on the matter of kidding: 

There are several methods of handling goats during kidding. The one employed 
here is the Mexican plan. When the kid is dropped take it by the hind legs, so that 
the doe will follow, to where you want to stake him. Stake with rope about 12 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 67 

inches long, with wooden swivel in center. Leave them staked until after they are 
marked and castrated and well owned by the mother. Sometimes kids are herded 
with their mothers and sometimes by themselves until they learn to be herded. If 
not handled properly and the kids are allowed to mix together, the doe loses the 
scent of her kid, and young does will often disown them. — F. 0. Landram, Laguna, 
Tex. 

This is the most critical period in the handling of goats. The kids are generally 
collected daily, as soon as dropped and able to stand and suckle the mother, and are 
confined in a corral for several weeks, much of the time tied to a stake driven into 
the ground. It is not safe to let them run with the flock until they are a month to 
six weeks of age, as they are liable to drop out of the flock and be lost. — Col. W. L. 
Black, Fort McKavett, Tex. 

The kidding season is the time when the work and care comes. The kids are more 
delicate than lambs, and require a great deal of care. — Hams & Baylor, Montell, Tex. 

The easiest way to get through kidding time is to put all the does that are soon to 
bring kids in a sejparate small pasture where they can be looked up easily. In case 
of bad weather they should be brought into their shed every evening before sundown; 
but if the weather is dry and not too cold they can be left out, and all the does will 
likely own their kids. Of course, the kids will not follow their mother as lambs do, 
but will lie down in a thicket or under a bush, a weed, a log, or a rock, and remain 
there till the mother comes back to it, even if it should have to wait till it starved to 
death; but after a kid is a few days old it is able to follow its mother, although it is 
best to keep the kids at home. Kids need not suck oftener than twice a day. — H. T. 
Fuchs, Tiger Mills, Tex. 

I stake the kid in a barn for two weeks. The mother goes out in the daytime to feed 
and is put with the kid at night. After two weeks the kid is turned loose and kept 
in a pen until 2 months old, when it is allowed to go out with the flock. — Henry 
Fink, Leon Springs, Tex. 

We keep the nannie and kid to themselves so far as possible for a day or so, and 
do not allow more than 20 nannies and kids in the same pen until the kids are over 
a week old, nor more than 50 nannies and kids in the same pen until 2 weeks old. 
Kids are kept in the pen day and night until a month old, and are then allowed to 
run outside the pen during the day to eat a little; the feed may be furnished them in 
the form of cut branches if there are no bushes near the pen. They should also have 
access to water after 4 weeks old. When 6 weeks old they can go out with the 
flock for a few hours m the afternoon, the flock being brought in at midday for this 
purpose. After eight weqks they can go regularly all day with the flock. We use a 
bridge for the purpose of ' ' cutting back ' ' such kids as should not go out with the 
flock. — W. G. Hughes <fc Co., Hastings, Tex. 

Protection from rain; confinement in a corral or small pasture mitil the kids are 
6 weeks old. We allow the does to jump over a 21-inch board to get food and return 
as they please. We separate all does every morning that will drop kids within two 
or three days and keep them in a pasture by themselves. — Conklin Brothers, Newville, 
Cal. 

I put nannies that are soon to kid in an open pasture (not bushy) . As the kids 
come, gather them into a corral with a shed or barn in it, taking the mothers with 
them. Keep the kids in the corral until they can jump over a 16-inch board, turn- 
ing their mothers in and out evening and morning. At about 2 weeks of age they 
are usually fit to run with their mothers. — George A. Houck, Eugene, Oreg. 

I aim to have a field of fall grain or reserved pasture to turn does in a few days 
before kidding commences, and turn the does in another pasture as fast as they drop 
their kids. Keep the kids up about two weeks, then let them go with their mothers, — 
Oscar Tom, Angora, Oreg. 



68 BUKEAU OF AKIMAL INDUSTRY. 

Put the goats in a small pasture near a shed. If stormy, take the kid and doe to 
the shed at once. Every night put all the kids and does in the shed. Put bars up 
20 inches high, and when the kid can jump over, let it go. Without a shed in this 
State you could not raise two out of ten kids; there is too much cold rain in kidding 
time — ^March and April. — U. S. Grant, Dallas, Oreg. 

Put the nannies by themselves and then look after them once or twice a day to see 
that the kids are able to get up and suckle. Don't bother them, if they are all right 
and are in a sheltered place, until three or four days, and then change them to suit 
your convenience. — W. W. Smith, Eola, Oreg. 

Take all the nannies out from the other goats as soon as they kid, and put them by 
themselves. I have about 100 small pens in which I put the nannies. Put the young 
nannies and old ones in different pens. Here they remain for four or five days and 
they are then turned into a larger pen, but not more than 50 should be put together. — 
G. M. Scott, Malta^ Idaho. 

Comfortable shelter and close w^atch to see that the kids get milk promptly. Put 
the doe and kid away from flock for a few days. — J. Murray Hoag, Maquoketa, Iowa. 

We have a man on the spot all the time to help the goats in kidding, if necessary, 
and also to see that the kids begin to suck. — Richardson Brothers, Dubuque, Iowa. 

Have good warm shelter, and under no circumstances allow cold rain to fall on the 
kids till after they are 2 weeks old. The shed should be open to the south, so that 
the sun can shine in on the kids. Turn the does out of the shed once a day, and leave 
the kids in the shed for the first two w^eeks. By that time the kids will be old enough 
to follow the doe. — W. T. MchUire, Kansas City, Mo. 

I always keep the kids in a corral until they are old enough to follow the doe, which 
is when they are about thirty days old. In taking the kids to the corral care should 
be taken to get nothing on them that will change the scent, for does are very sensi- 
tive. If two kids from different does are rubbed together, the does will often refuse 
to own either of them. All kids should be castrated before two wrecks old, as there 
is less danger and they do not get so sore. — H. I. Kimball, Maxwell City, N. Mex. 

I cut out the heavy ewes from the rest of the herd, and hold them in a close herd, 
and catch the kids and bring them with their mothers to the corral, where each kid 
is staked separately with a toggle, or swivel, being careful to see that the mother knows 
where the kid is. After this I let the new mother goats come and go at will, only 
noticing them enough to see that they come to their kids regularly. The kids should 
be watched closely in order that they may not get tangled up and hurt. When they 
are about 2 weeks old they are turned loose in a corral and a board is put at the gate 
over which the mothers jump in going to and from their kids. When the kids are 3 
months old they may be allowed to go with the herd. — Josephus R. Barnette, Globe, 
Ariz. 

THE BUILDING UP AND MANAGEMENT OF A FLOCK OF ANGOKA GOATS. 

THE BEST FLOCK. 

It is assumed that whoever goes into the business of raising Angora 
goats does so for the production of mohair, rather than meat or skins, 
and so it is to his interest to have a floclv that will yield a profit from 
the beginning. The best liock for this purpose is one composed of 
thoroughbreds.^ Such a flock will yield good mohair from the first. 

^The term pitreforetZs is not used here, as there is strong objection to it by many of 
the best breeders, on the ground that there are no purebreds, as explained elsewhere. 
As the term thoroughbreds will exactly suit the purposes of this chapter it is pre- 
ferred, leaving the question of purebreds to be discussed by others. 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 69 

Those who enter upon the business of goat raising, however, must make 
their operations conform to their capital, the same as in any other 
business. They will find that desirable does will cost from |5 to |12 
each, and bucks all the way from $50 to $100 each; so that a large herd 
of this kind, although preferable, will cost a small fortune, and is 
beyond consideration by most people who will engage in the industry. 

BUILDING UP A FLOCK FROM SMALL BEGINNING. 

Another plan that may be pursued by one who has limited capital, 
but time and the patience to wait, is to begin with a few first-class 
animals and build up a flock from these. The result will be satisfac- 
tory, and the only drawback is the length of time required. After 
all, this may be the wisest plan for most beginners to pursue, as 
experience, so necessary alwa3^s to success, will be gained as the flock 
increases. 

BUILDING UP A FLOCK BY CROSSING UPON THE COMMON GOAT. 

It is noted in the historical part of this paper that the Turks many 
years ago began the practice of crossing Angora bucks upon Kurd 
does. They probably had in mind the twofold purpose of producing 
thereby a hardier goat than the pure Angoras and of increasing the 
number of goats in order to supply the increased demand of Europe 
for mohair. Crossing the Angora bucks upon the common goats of 
the United States has been practiced since their introduction, and the 
results have been very satisfactory in many respects. Many of the 
large flocks of Texas and New Mexico have had Mexican does for their 
foundation. Buildii^g up a good mohair-producing flock upon this 
plan requires Ave or six years. The advantages are that the does with 
which the beginning is made are cheap, costing from 11.50 to |2.50 per 
head. During the first and second crosses there are many twin kids, 
thus Increasing the herd in that proportion — a condition not existing, 
except to a small extent, among either the purebred or thoroughbred 
Angoras; the size and hardihood of the progeny are increased and the 
liability to disease decreased. 

Care should be exercised in starting a flock by this method to select 
only such common does as are entirely white; any other color, how- 
ever slight, is objectionable. If otherwise, the results might be satis- 
factory, but the probabilities would be the contrary. In handling the 
crosses the breeder often finds that atavism becomes apparent when it 
is most objectionable. For instance, the progeny for two generations 
of a doe having black spots might appear all that is desirable, while 
the third generation would produce the latent color. 

In starting with a bunch of common goats that you want to use for raising a graded 
flock of shearing goats you should use only as pure white goats as you can get, and 
you should allow no colored goats in the flock. You should also dispose of all 
those that have long, coarse hair on the thigh and on the fore legs, below the shoulder. 



70 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

In fact, the common goats that you want to start your flock with should be nice and 
smooth built, with small head and short, smooth hair and small horns. From muleys 
you can raise heavy shearers, but their mohair is not quite so fine. — H. T. Fuchs, 
Tiger Mills, Tex. 

If bred for the purpose of quick propagation, and with very fine, robust goats of 
both sexes to begin with, in six years five or six crosses can easily be obtained if 
nutrimental advantages are favorable; and if really first-class bucks, having all the 
most valuable points this side of perfection, can be procured, and inbreeding care- 
fully avoided, even our common short-haired and smooth-coated goat will, after the 
fourth cross — say, beginning with the thirty-second — show improvement, which in a 
large flock on general inspection would defy detection by anyone but an expert 
judge of Angora goats. — G. A. Hoerle, Eidgewood, N. J. 

It is always quite necessary that the common does should be of the 
short-haired variety. Long-haired ones will give trouble in persisting 
to throw out long hairs among the mohair. 

The buck used upon these does should be the best one can afford. 
The better the buck, the better the result. There will be many twins 
among the kids from this first cross, and if proper care is exercised 
at kidding time it will not be difficult to increase the flock as much as 
100 per cent. The higher the cross, the fewer twins will be dropped. 
As the fleece upon the flrst cross is not worth more than the effort to 
clip it, the males among them should be castrated when about 2 
weeks old and disposed of for meat as soon as old enough. The females 
among them, being half-blood Angoras, are kept for service with 
another thoroughbred buck. The result of this second cross is three- 
quarter blood Angoras. The mohair from them has a marketable 
value, but is very limited in quantity and usually mostly kemp. It is 
best to deal with this cross in the same manner as with the flrst cross. 
If this method of procedure is followed up to the fifth or sixth cross 
a flock will result that will produce most excellent mohair. 

It has no doubt occurred to the reader that we now have four or five 
different grades of does, beginning with the common breed. There- 
fore after a thoroughbred flock has once been produced in this manner, 
each year brings forth another one from the same sources, and this 
condition continues as long as the breeding life of the does continues. 

PROPER AGE FOR BREEDING. 

Goats of both sexes will sometimes breed when they are 5 months 
old, and often at 6 months, but from the fact that they are at this age 
but a month or two from weaning time and are not nearly full grown, 
it is obvious that they should not be permitted to breed. They reach 
maturity when about 16 or 18 months old, and they ought not to breed 
before this time. If bred earlier the kids Avill not be so strong or so 
well developed. They are in their prime when from 2 to 6 years old, 
but Avith proper feeding in winter they have been known to breed 
regularly until 1.5 years old. The average life of goats, however, is 
about 12 years. There should be no tendency to keep does until they 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 



Vi 



are very old unless tbev bring kids of exceptional merit, for it must 
be remembered tbat tbeir mobair gets coarser, and consequently less 

valuable, as tbey grow older. ^ ^. 4^ «+. 

Tbe accompanying illustration (Fig. 1) sbo^s bow tbe age ot goats 
may be determined until tbey are four years old. After tbat, m tbe 
absence of definite information, tbe age is a mere matter of guess, 
based upon tbe general appearance of tbe animal. Tbe new teetb are 
longer and larger. 





FiRSt Year 



Selcond Year 





Third Year 



Fourth Year 




Fifth Year 

FIG. l.-The age of goats shown by the teeth. [Copied from Bryan Hook's " Milch goats and their 
management."] 

IN-AND-IN BREEDING. 

In-and-in breeding means tlie breeding of related individuals The 
term is indefinite, and with some refers to a close relationship and with 
others anv degree of relationship. The correspondence ot the Bureau 



72 BUEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTBY. 

with goat raisers shows that the term with them means generally the 
breeding of individuals of close relationship. 

It is safe to say that there is an overwhelming sentiment against the 
practice. This will be apparent after one has read the replies which 
are published herewith to the question, "What is your opinion of 
in-and-in breeding?" It is quite generally agreed, however, that this 
practice will give a fleece of finest fiber, having a beautiful luster and 
little oil, but the weight will not be so great. Those who favor the 
practice contend that the quality more than oflfsets the quantity. The 
animals resulting from this practice are not so large and strong as 
those which are not related. The fact must not be overlooked, how- 
ever, that Mr. John S. Harris, of Oakley, Idaho, has followed in-and-in 
breeding continuously and with evident success, and, too, they are kept 
in a climate where the temperature in winter is sometimes far below 
zero. But Mr. Harris is a gentleman who understands the art of 
breedings if all goat raisers knew so well the principles of breeding as 
he does there might not be so many to condemn the practice. How- 
ever, they have learned much by experience, and it can not be con- 
tended that they are wrong in advising generally against the practice. 
Col. Richard Peters, the most successful breeder of his day, said that 
half-blood does can with best results be bred to their own sires, provided 
the sires have proved themselves to be good breeders. 

If inbrfeeding of closely related animals is meant, it should not be resorted to with 
live stock of any kind except when individuals which show very desirable points are 
at the same time of very strong constitution and of good size. But, then, I would 
never hesitate to breed even parents to children. Strict observance of this rule I con- 
sider doubly necessary with Angoras, which are naturally tender and delicate, and 
it should be risked only when chances are very strong that the gain of fleece or shape 
will fully compensate for the inevitable loss of size and constitution. I believe that 
in a very few years that the value of the annual product of meat (from her offspring) 
of a doe will surpass that of her mohair. Besides, the more constitution is gained, 
the more apt are we to return to the original prolificness of the goat tribe, which has 
been entirely lost with Angoras in consequence of inbreeding. With the third free 
generation usually, but always with the fourth, bad effects of mating relations would 
not be felt any more. — G. A. Hoerle, Eidgewood, N. J. 

The opinion of our leading authorities, such as Professor Sanford and others, is that 
in-and-in breeding is the most successful way, and many cases are cited where this 
has been carried on for over thirty years. We have some breeders here who have 
been inbreeding for the past eight.years, and the result, when the greatest of care is 
exercised, is that we have produced some very fine stock, as fine, I believe, as any 
that has been raised in this country. This in-and-in breeding is a very particular 
piece of work and should not be attempted by anyone unless he intends to give it 
his imdivided attention. I believe it is the most successful way to breed for a fine 
fiber. The greatest trouble seems to be in the size of the animal, but if careful atten- 
tion is paid to the work there is no excuse for losing size. AVe have demonstrated 
beyond all doubt that in-and-in breeding produces a finer wool, a longer wool, and a 
better wool; so if one desires to breed for fine wool he will have to follow in-and-in 
breeding. — E. H. Jobson, Lake Valley, N. Mex. 



Bulletin No. 27, B. A. I. 



Plate XIII. 




Bulletin No. 27, B. A. 



Plate XIV. 




THE ANGORA GOAT. 73 

I think that to get a perfect goat one should inbreed to the finest buck or ewe 
obtainable; but don't keep it up too long, as the goat will be small and weakly. — 
Josephus R. Barnette, Globe, Ariz. 

We think it should be avoided so far as possible, as it reduces the size and general 
stamina of the goat. — W. G. Hughes & Co., Hastings, Tex. 

It will ruin a flock of goats the same as any other animal. — E. C. Johnston, Law- 
rence, Kans. 

If done properly, closely watching defects, it is all right. — J. R. Standley, Platteville, 
Iowa. 

Would not practice it if I could help it. We want goats with long, fine mohair, 
but at the same time we must look to the build of the goat. — Q. M. Beck, Bear grove, 
Iowa. 

Am opposed to it on general principles. Would prefer it, however, to a moderate 
extent, to using inferior sires. — /. Murray Hoag, Maquoketa, Iowa. 

I don't like inbreeding, as it weakens the goat. They don't have the ambition 
that fresh blood imparts to them. — G. M. Scott, Malta, Idaho. 

They will be small and not strong, and harder to raise; will not shear so much, 
and more difficult to keep in flesh. — W. W. Smith, Eola, Oreg. 

My stock are all inbred (600 does), but they are very small and tender. Would 
not advise it. — V. Cladek, Larwood, Oreg. 

Once will do, provided you have an extra buck. After that you weaken the con- 
stitution of your goat. — U. S. Grant, Dallas, Oreg. 

It can be practiced to advantage in producing a fine fleece, but if indulged too much 
will weaken the constitution and the goat will be small. — Abe Blackburn, North Yam- 
hill, Oreg. 

I believe, by careful selection of bucks, they can be improved, but I prefer crossing 
with new blood when it is just as good. — Oscar Tom, Angora, Oreg. 

It shatters the constitution without a relative gain in weight of fleece. Fine mohair 
and light fleeces are all right, but I don't practice inbreeding. It produces such a 
goat as the practical man does not want. — George A. Houck, Eugene, Oreg. 

We do not approve of it on general principles, but have not experimented much 
along this line. — C. P. Bailey, San Jose, Cal. 

Under certain circumstances inbreeding for points in thoroughbreds is necessary, 
but it will degenerate a grade herd very quickly. — Conklin Brothers, Newville, Cal. 

I do not like it and have never practiced it. I have seen it practiced, and the goats 
lack constitution.— jffenri/ Fink, Leon Springs, Tex. 

It brings the mohair to the greatest fineness if properly managed, but it should not 
be kept up too long. — H. T. Fuchs, Tiger Mills, Tex. 

It is beneficial in the matter of improving the fleece, but a decided injury to the 
constitution and size of the animal. — Col. W. L. Black, Fort McKavett, Tex. 

I used one billy five years. He was the best goat that I ever saw, shearing 10^ 
pounds of clean mohair annually. — G. B. Miller, Gervais, Oreg. 

Inbreeding makes the fleece thinner and shorter and the constitution of the goat 
weaker. — jP. 0. Landrum, Laguna, Tex. 



74 BUEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE BUCK. 



Bucks usually come in heat about the middle of July and continue 
so about six months; does, however, do not usuall}^ come in heat until 
the latter part of August or the 1st of September. As the period of 
gestation in goats is from IttT to 155 days (or about five months), care 
must be taken in mating the animals in order to have the kids dropped 
in proper season, which will vary somewhat with the locality. The 
kids should not come before the warm days of spring, or when vegeta- 
tion begins to put out vigorously. Therefore the buck should be put 
to service from November 1 to December 1, so that the kids will come 
about the 1st of April or May. The only objection to earlier kidding 
is the extra care required to preserve the life of the kids, for they are 
exceedingly delicate for a few days, as has been stated before, and even 
a little cold at this season will probably prove fatal. 

A buck, like an}^ other domestic animal, should be in the best possi- 
ble condition when put to service. He should be well fed with grain 
for a few weeks before this time, and the feeding should be kept up 
until a few weeks after his service is ended. 

As to the number of does which a buck may serve, there is a great 
diversity of opinion. The greater number of goat raisers, however, 
think forty or fifty is all that may be served with good results. Col. 
Richard Peters wrote that he had obtained the best results with two 
hundred breeding does by turning in with them ten selected bucks. 
His object was to have the kids come as nearl}^ at one time as possible, 
thus shortening the period of careful watching. Referring to Colonel 
Peters's practice. Dr. J. R. Standley says he regards it a great success, 
and will adopt it in the future. He says, further: ''I have tried the 
one-service system, also turning in bucks at night, removing them 
during the day, and other plans, but decidedh^ prefer Colonel Peters's 
plan." 

Where there are very large flocks it is not always desirable that the 
kids should all come at one time. If they are dropped at intervals for 
a month one attendant may thus be enabled to look 'after a large num- 
ber, whereas if all come about the same time one attendant could not 
do the work, and assistants w^ho ma}^ be strangers to the flock would 
be necessary. (It is not Avell to have many strangers with these goats 
at any time, and certainly not at kidding time.) Upon this point Mr. 
G. A. Hoerle has written out a plan, given below, which is quite gen- 
erally followed where there are large flocks: 

A great difference of opinion exists as to how many ewes an Angora buck should 
be allowed to serve. This depends both upon the bucks and the condition they are 
in, as well as upon the length of the period during which you want the kids to drop. 
In a small herd, and where ample conveniences for kidding are furnished, so that 
good care can be taken of all the kids at once if necessary, one buck should serve 
from thirty to fifty (as above said, according to the animal); but should the flock be 
large, and owing to the uncertainty of the climate or the insufficient help or shelter 



THE ANGOKA GOAT. 75 

it should be desirable to have the kids drop gradually, say during a period of two 
months, especially when winter kidding is made a practice, from 75 to 150 ewes for 
each buck is not too much — again, according to animal and time. They should not 
run with the entire flock at once, but begin with say one-third to one-fourth of it, 
according to circumstances. The next similar fraction should be put in the breeding 
flock from two to five days later, and so on until gradually the entire flock is with 
the bucks. In this way a full crop of kids would be insured and at the same time 
the bucks prevented from doing excessive service. 

The handling of "riginals" (ridgels) should have a word here. If 
the one testicle which descends is removed, the riginal will not get 
kids, but he will bother the does. If the descended testicle is not 
removed, he will breed without difficulty. He should be killed as soon 
as practicable. 

NUMBER OF KIDS. 

Thoroughbred Angora goats do not often drop more than one kid at 
a time, while the common goats nearly always drop two. There are 
many twins with the first cross, but the number diminishes as the 
crosses become higher. It is stated that the purebred Angoras never 
dropped but one at a time, and that the presence of twins in a flock is 
evidence of a base origin of the goats. The latter statement is disputed 
by some, who believe that the purebred Angora (having no trace 
whatever of base blood) will drop twins as regularly as the common 
goat. 

SIZE OP FLOCKS. 

All goat raisers agree that Angoras can not stand crowding together; 
and the higher the grade of the goats the more susceptible are they to 
injury from crowding. But to state just how many should be kept in 
a flock is difficult, as 'the number depends upon the character of their 
restraint. Where they have the range at day and large yards at night, 
the flocks may be very large, but where they have pastures and small 
pens at night the flock must not be large. 

Writers upon the Angora industry have placed so much stress upon 
the- point of overcrowding that the Bureau sought for information 
upon the question "What should be the size of Angora flocks? " Each 
correspondent replied with his own experience, and the conclusion is 
reached from the replies that they may be handled in flocks about as 
sheep are handled, the number depending wholly upon the capacity 
of the range or pasture, as the numbers reported for flocks are from 
100 to 2,500. However, the danger from crowding is not disputed by 
any of the correspondents, and many of them mention it specifically. 
This phase of the matter must be carefully considered in connection 
with the question of housing and shelter. These must be ample to 
afford abundance of room and fresh air. 

It is stated by some that goats running in small flocks shear more 
than the same number running in large flocks. 



76 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY, 



DEHORNING. 



Dehorning the goats has received very little consideration, and it is 
probable that Mr. Q. M. Beck, of Beargrove, Iowa, is the only goat 
raiser who is now practicing it. Man}^ other breeders report that they 
do not dehorn but believe it practicable, while a very few express 
opposition to the practice. Mr. Beck writes as follows: "I dehorned 
forty-five head last fall (1889) and found it a success, as it stops a great 
deal of bunting, which is liable to cause abortion, saves shed room, 
saves broken legs, and will save many kids." These same reasons have 
brought the dehorning of cattle in quite general favor among feeders, 
and it is probable that as the Angora goat industry grows into a large 
industry the practice of relieving the goats of their uncivilized weap- 
ons of warfare will be generally adopted. 

Mr. Beck dehorns in the fall after all flies are gone. 

A different view of the question of dehorning is taken by C. P. 
Bailey & Sons Co., who dehorned 250 head which were in a band by 
themselves. They bunted as much or more than before the horns 
were removed. "Goats always butt each other, but we have never 
seen any ill effects resulting, except occasionally a leg being broken 
from being caught between the horns. It deprives them of their only 
means of defense, and we consider it unnecessary and objectionable." 

SHEARING AND SHEDDING. 

SHEARING ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR. 

In Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and sometimes in California shear- 
ing is done twice a year — in the months of March or April and in 
September or October. The reasons are that, owing to the warm 
climate, the fleece will often shed in the fall if not clipped. Mr. 11. T. 
Fuchs, of Tiger Mills, Tex., says: "I find it quite necessary to shear 
twice a year, as the}^ suffer too much from heat in the summer and 
autumn and even during the warm days in winter if they are not 
sheared about the middle of September, and in the springtime as soon 
as they begin to shed their long silky hair." There are instances in 
these localities where goats carry their fleece through the year, but 
all breeders, except in some parts of California, report the practice of 
shearing twice a year. In the other parts of the country shearing is 
done but once a year, and that in the months of March or April. The 
rule for shearing time does not depend so much upon the calendar as 
upon the condition of the fleece. It should not be delayed until the 
fiber begins to shed, as then the oil will begin to go back into the body 
of the animal, the mohair thus losing its life and luster. 

As to the relative values of the semiannual and annual fleeces, there 
does not seem to be much difference of opinion. The semiannual fiber 
is shorter and therefore less desirable for fabricating, and the price is 
not so high as for that of the annual fleece. It is generally agreed 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 77 

that the two shearings combined weigh a little more than the annual 
shearing, but probably the increase does not average more than a 
quarter of a pound. However, some who have practiced it report that 
the gain is not equal to the cost of the second shearing, and that 
shearing twice is done from necessity rather than from the standpoint 
of profit. 

USE OF CLIPPING MACHINES. 

The use of clipping machines, although largely employed among 
large sheep raisers, has not yet come into general use among goat 
raisers. Those who have used them indorse them, and they will no 
doubt soon come into general use. They are more rapid than hand 
work, and the results are more satisfactory. The cutting of the skin 
is easily avoided in reasonably careful hands, while it requires extreme 
care with hand shears to prevent cutting. Mr. H. I. Kimball, of New 
Mexico, says of the use of the machines: ''I sheared them [the goats] 
myself faster than the best hand shearer I ever saw, and I. got a better 
price for my mohair." Another gentleman says: "I will say that the 
clipping machine for sheep will work well on goats in every respect. 
I have sheared ten goats in one hour and done up the fleeces." 

Of course, the goat raiser will consider the relative cost of shearing 
with machines and by hand before he will purchase a machine. The 
decision will probably depend upon the number. The cost of hand 
shearing is about 4 cents a head. In the Southwest there are Mexicans 
who follow the profession of shearing sheep and goats; these usually 
receive 2 cents a head with their board. Many of them will shear 85 
or 90 a day, the average of all being about 60. Any man who can 
shear sheep can shear goats. If shearing is done by hand, a short- 
bladed shear should be used in order to avoid cutting the hair twice. 

Another objection to hand shearing is that there is often double 
cutting of the hair. The result is a shortening of the fiber and an 
increased amount of noilage. 

If the animals are well cared for during the year, their fleece will 
not require washing before clipping. One writer of experience says 
that "the natural habits of the Angora goats are clean enough to 
enable spinning before washing, at least for some purposes." Any 
dirt that may adhere to the fleece should carefully be picked off after 
shearing. 

CARE OF THE FLEECE AFTER SHEARING. 

The operation of shearing should be done in a building free from 
straw and dirt, which might adhere to tKe fleece after it drops from the 
goat. It should then be rolled up, inside out, and packed in the sack 
without being tied in any way. This is the manner in which the mills 
desire to receive it. The practice of tying the fleece with almost any 
kind of twine that ma}" be at hand obtains ver}'' largely among goat 
raisers, but the wishes of the mill opei'ators are alread}^ receiving 



78 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

proper attention. The reasons why the mill operators do not desire 
fleeces tied are very forcibl}^ stated by one of them (George B. 
Goodall), as follows: 

I want to mention another evil which should be corrected, and that is the use of 
twine or string around the fleeces. Vegetable fibers will not take dyes used for 
animal fibers, and in cutting these strings by the sorters more or less of the vege- 
table fibers get into the mohair and have to be carefully burled out from the face of 
the finished goods, which adds to the cost of each piece. A mohair fleece should l)e 
simply rolled up without twine of any description. You never see it on Turkey or 
Cape mohair. 

If mohair producers insist on the use of twine, the qualit}^ should 
be hard and smooth, so that no particle of it will adhere to the mohair 
when it is cut away. 

As to assorting the fleeces with reference to the qualit}- of the 
mohair, no common practice is folloAved by producers. Some assort 
them at shearing time and pack in separate sacks, while others pack 
all sorts together. If the producer is a good judge of mohair, the 
former method will prove more satisfactory. When all are packed 
together indiscriminately, the poorer grades of fiber tend to reduce 
the average price of the whole lot. However, many prefer to pack 
thus indiscriminate!}^, leaving the work and judgment of assorting to 
the commission merchant. Most of the mills purchase from the com- 
mission merchant because of his skill in assorting. 

There are appended some opinions on this subject of Mr. Hoerle 
which are worthy of consideration: 

Before folding up the fleeces they should be carefully assorted, if this is possible, 
in the following way: 

A. Combing hair, or all hair over 4 j inches in length : 

1. The very finest, as fine as fine kid hair. 

2. Next finest, or average run of good doe fleeces. 

3. General run of fair doe and good wether fleeces. 

4. Coarse fleeces. 

B. Carding hair, or less than 4j inches long: 

1. Fineness of class 1 above. 

2. Fineness of classes 2 and 3. 

3. Coarse fleeces. 

At shearing time fleeces of similar quality and length should be packed together, 
and special care should be taken not to allow tag ends and burrs to remain in the 
fleeces. The latter should be carefully picked out before the shearing begins and 
the former pulled off before packing and placed in a special bag, and marked sepa- 
rately. It is much more profitable to have small lots of low-priced short ends and 
tags and to pull out wit"h the burrs a few strands of the mohair than to have an 
entire clip depreciated by careless shearing and packing. 

SHEDDING. 

The question of shedding is provoking much discussion among goat 
raisers at this time. Some maintain that the goats shed regularly, 
while others assert that the purebreds and best thoroughbreds do not 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 79 

shed at all. The correspondence of the Bureau shows that practically 
all of the goats in this country shed their fleece, either annuall}^ in 
the colder localities or semiannually in the warmer climates. The 
question submitted by the Bureau was, "Do thoroughbreds shed if 
not sheared ? ■ ' There were many positive affirmative replies received 
and several modified answers. Among the latter are reasons why 
some goats do not shed. It will be of interest, and probably of some 
profit, to consider some of these replies in any effort toward reaching 
a conclusion regarding this question, and they are given herewith: 

They will all shed in the spring, when warm weather begins, but the higher they 
are bred up the longer they will go without shedding. — H. T. Fuchs, Tiger Mills, Tex. 

Some will shed. I regard the nonshedding Angora as a distinct type, and all the 
various crosses will retain their fleece. — William L. Black, Fort McKavelt, Tex. 

I have goats that never shed, but they are fed for show purposes during winter. 
If ordinary care is given, they shed. — Ahe Blackburn, North Yamhill, Oreg. 

I have had goats that did not shed at 1 year old, but did at 2. I think feeding 
conditions are responsible for such cases. — George A. Houck, Eugene, Oreg. 

Goats of second cross sometimes do not shed. Depends on condition of goat. — 
U. S. Grant, Dallas, Oreg. 

Many thoroughbreds will shed, and we have grades that do not. Much depends 
upon the physical condition of the goat. If it is in poor flesh and fattens rapidly in 
spring, it is very apt to commence shedding, just as many sheep do under similar 
conditions. — W. G. Hughes & Co., Hastings, Tex. 

Though most breeders in this country disagree with me in my nonshedding views, 
I am supported by the Cape breeders. One of them, ]Mr. R. C. Holmes, is very 
decided in his expressions. He says: "With regard to well-bred goats shedding 
their hair, I quite agree with you that they should not do so. In fact, among my 
goats it is an exce^^tional thing to see a goat shed, and even the ewes at kidding time 
do not shed. At this pferiod some few may do so, but very few indeed, and a ram 
should never shed." This does not lack in clearness. Angoras will sometimes lose 
their hair from disease, a change of climate, or a change of weather even, or a sud- 
den change from a continued dry food to green food, etc. This may appear at any 
time of the year, regardless of the season, and has absolutely nothing to do with the 
yearly shedding of low-bred goats. No yearly shedder should be classed as a thor- 
oughbred." — G. A. Hoerle, Ridge ivood, N. J. 

Under certain conditions they will shed, but not if the goats are in good health. — 
E. A. Hinkle, Roseburg, Oreg. 

I have about fifty head of nannies that do not shed, but most goats shed if not 
sheared. — G. M. Scott, Malta, Idaho. 

DISEASES AND OTHER ENEMIES. 

Goats are less subject to disease than sheep; but these species are so 
closely allied that treatment in cases of disease is the same for both. 
Several accounts have been published in the agricultural press of goats 
in the Southwest being affected with stomach worms and with grub in 
the head, the same as sheep are affected in the same localities. There 
are occasionally outbreaks of disease in certain localities, but these are 
due to local causes, and generally have not been difficult to overcome. 



80 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

The treatment recommended for the screw worm is as follows: Add 
to any one of the carbolic sheep dips 10 per cent of chloroform. 
Apply this mixture, after thoroughly cleaning the wound, with a wad 
of cotton. The chloroform immediately destroys the larvse and the 
carbolic dip prevents the further blowing of the wound. 

The stomach worm {Stroiigylus contortus) is the same form as found 
in sheep, cattle, and deer. The treatment in all cases is the same as 
for sheep. 

Goats have at least three kinds of scab parasites peculiar to their 
species, but apparently only two kinds of scab develop. Psoroptic 
scab of sheep does not develop disease upon them, though it can 
undoubtedly sustain life for a while. 

Tapeworms of the genus Moniezia are found in goats. In the intes- 
tines are also found five round worms, namely, Strongylus filicollis^ 
(Esophagostoma venulosum^ Sclerostoma hypostomum^ Uncinaria cer- 
nua^ and Trichocephalus affinis. 

Verminous pneumonia of sheep also occurs in goats. 

Tuberculosis is so rare in goats that every case is recorded, the 
number of such cases being less than a dozen. It may be said, there- 
fore, that they are practically immune from this widespread and insid- 
ious disease. 

Goats are apt to have foot rot, but a cure is easil}^ effected by the 
use of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol). It is usually applied by driv- 
ing the goats through a trough containing a solution of strong blue 
vitriol. The solution should be about an inch in depth. Oscar Tom, 
a breeder of much experience, says: 

Butter of antimony applied with a stiff feather will cure it, or mix 1 ounce of sul- 
phuric acid with 2 ounces of vinegar and apply as above. Go over the whole band. 
Generally one application cures if well done. Change the range at the same time if 
you can. 

Angoras are frequentl}^ affected with lice, which cause a loss of 
mohair from the rubbing and scratching of the goat. The lice ma}^ be 
exterminated by dipping. The common sheep dips are generally used 
for the purpose. It is a common practice to dip the goats once a year, 
and some advise dipping twice a year — in spring just after shearing and 
again in the fall. 

One of the principal enemies of the Angoras is the wolf. The best 
guard against wolves is a good wire fence. Sometimes the wolves dig 
under the fence, and then it becomes necessary to trap them. This is 
practiced by Mr. H. T. Fuchs, who says: 

Three steel traps are fastened to each other, but to nothing else, and catch the 
wolves. If the trap is made fast the wolf will break loose, but the weight of three 
traps fastened together simply tires the wolf out, and it rarely drags them more than 
200 or 300 yards. 

I In many localities the wildcats are especially troublesome. Their 
prey is the kids. 



Bulletin No. 27 B, A. I. 



Plate XV. 





m 



Bulletin No. 27, B. A. I. 



Plate XVI. 




Bulletin No. 27, B. A. L 



Plate XVII. 




Fig. 1.— a Yearling Angora Goat. 

Photograph furnished by W. G. Hughes & Co.) 




Fig. 2.— Shearing Angora Goats. 

(Photograph furnished by W. G Hughes & Co, 



THE ANGOEA GOAT. 



81 



The fact that many plants which are poisonous to sheep and cattle 
may be eaten with impunity by goats is frequently referred to by 
writers for the press. It is true, however, that goats sometimes die 
from eating poisonous plants, especially in the mountainous districts 
of the Carolinas, as the Bureau is informed through correspondence. 
The so-called ''ground ivy" is specially referred to. It is believed 
that goats will not eat poisonous plants to an injurious extent unless 
driven by hunger to do so. 

NUMBER OF ANGORA GOATS. 

IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The census reports previous to the year 1900 have not given the 
number of goats in the United States; the Twelfth Census, however, 
will show the number of Angoras, as well as the number of common 
goats. 

Col. William M. Black, of Fort McKavett, Tex., in 1898 estimated 
the total number (including all grades) to be 247,775, located in States 
and Territories as follows: 

Texas 75,000 

California 59,000 

New Mexico 52,000 

Oregon! 15,000 

Nevada 11,500 

Idaho 8,000 

Wyoming 7, 000 

Arizona 5, 700 

Missouri 5, 200 

Utah 2,000 

Montana 1, 500 

Kansas 1,200 

Indian Territory ^ 

Georgia 

Kentucky 

Pennsylvania 

Illinois 



900 
750 
500 
400 
300 



Tennessee 

South Carolina . 
North Carolina. 

Colorado 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Connecticut 

Alabama 

Arkansas 

Florida 

Iowa 

Virginia 

Nebraska 

Washington 

West Virginia.. 



250 

200 

200 

200 

150 

150 

150 

75 

75 

75 

75 

75 

50 

50 

50 



Total 247,775 

About a year later Mr. William R. Payne, of New York, estimated 
the total number at 300,000. If these estimates are anywhere nearly 
correct, the present number must be very much greater, probably as 
many as 400,000. 

IN CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

Mr. W. Hammond Tooke, in the Agricultural Journal of the Cape 
of Good Hope for May 25, 1899, gives the number of Angora goats 
for 1893-1898 as follows: 

1892-93 2, 811, 206 

1893-94 2, 619, 708 

1894-95 2,611,082 



1895-96 - 2, 546, 981 

1896-97 2, 685, 080 

1897-98 2, 982, 811 



^ A home authority estimates the Angoras in the State at 65,0®0. 
11786— No. 27—01 6 



82 



BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



IN ANGORA VILAYET. 



Schreiner estimated that the number of Angoras in the vilayet of 
Angora in 1894, was 1,230,000. He also directs attention to the fact 
that the mohair area of Turkey in Asia extends beyond that province. 

PRODUCTION OF MOHAIR. 

The quantity of mohair of all grades produced in the United States 
has been a matter of guess, and the estimates have been wide apart. 
Assuming that practically the entire domestic product goes to the mills 
for fabrication, the Bureau addressed to the mills that consume mohair 
a request to be furnished a statement of the amount of domestic and 
imported mohair used annually. It is believed, therefore, that these 
statistics which are given herewith represent the total product of the 
United States for the j^ear 1899: 

Consumption of mohair in the United States in 1899. 



Mills. 



Domestic. 



Imported. 



Sanford Mills and the Goodall Worsted Co., Sanford, Me 

Tingue Manufacturing Co., Seymour, Conn 

Atlantic Mills, Providence, R. I 

Gold Medal Braid Co., Attleboro Falls, Mass 

Massachusetts Mohair Plush Co., Lowell, Mass 

Westfield Braid Co., Westfield, Mass 

Cranston Worsted Mills, Bristol, R. I 

Queensbury Mills, Worcester, Mass 

Total 



Pounds. 
840,000 



200,000 



32,000 
5,000 



Pounds. 
460,000 
15,000 
1296,465 
1,000 
300, 000 
18,000 
39,000 



1,077,000 



1,119,465 



1894 10,003,173 

1895 11,090,449 

1896 10,001,028 

1897 12,583,601 



1 Not certain it was imported mohair, but assumed to be. 

The customs figures of the Gape of Good Hope, as quoted by 
W. Hammond Tooke, show that mohair was produced there for various 
years previous to 1898 in the following amounts: 

1877 1,433,774 

1882 3,766,657 

1887 7,153,730 

1892 10,516,837 

1893 9,457,278 

According to Commercial Relations for 1899 the entire product of 
the Cape of Good Hope for 1897 was exported, as well as that for 
1898, which is given as 10,876,014 pounds. 

It has not been possible to obtain figures showing the production of 
Turkey for any specific year or for a series of years, but the average 
annual production is frequently given as 7,650,000 pounds. 

TARIFF. 

The act approved July 24, 1897, places a duty of 12 cents per pound 
upon mohair. Mohair cloth for buttons is taxed 10 per cent ad 



THE ANGORA GOAT. 83 

valorem. The duty on dressed and finished goatskins is 20 per cent 
ad valorem; on skins for morocco, tanned but unfinished. 10 per cent 
ad valorem. These rates are subject to increase under certain condi- 
tions of shipments. 

REGISTRATION ASSOCIATIONS. 

The Bailey Angora Goat Registration Association, of San Jose, Cal., 
has kept a private register for many years, and became a general 
record association in 1898. 

There are two registration associations in the United States which 
were organized during the year 1900 — the American Angora Goat 
Breeders' Association, with headquarters at Kansas City, Mo., and the 
National Angora Record Association, with headquarters at Salem, Oreg. 

LITERATURE CONSULTED. 

The principal works consulted in the preparation of this paper are 
as follows: 

SCHREINER, S. 0. CrONWRIGHT: 

The Angora Goat (published under the auspices of the South African Angora Goat 
Breeders' Association). Longmans Green & Co., London, New York, and Bombay. 
1898. Pp. 256, figs. 22. 
Hayes, John L. : 

The Angora Goat: Its Origin, Culture, and Products. American Agriculturist, 
New York. 1882. 
Hook, Bryan: 

Milch Goats and their Management. Vinton & Co., Limited, London. 1896. Pp. 
115, figs. 17. 

HOERLE, GUSTAV A. : 

The Angora Goat: I^ Habits and Culture. Fink & Co., Leon Springs, Tex. 1886. 
Pp. 32. 
JoBsoN, E. H.: 

Angora Goat Raising. E. H. Jobson, Lake Valley, N. Mex. 1900. Pp. 29, fig. 1. 
Allen, George Edward: 

Angora Goats: The Wealth of the Wilderness. Horace A. Field & Co., Wellsboro, 
Pa. 1900. Pp. 32, fig. 1. 
C. P. Bailey & Sons Co. : 

California Angoras. San Jose, Cal. 1900. 

Besides these access has been had to hundreds of articles in the 
agricultural press. Special mention should be made of the Oregon 
Agriculturist, Portland, Oreg., the Pacific Kural Press, San Francisco, 
Cal., and the American Sheep Breeder, Chicago, 111. The two latter 
devote a page regularly to the goat industry. 

The library force of the Bureau of Animal Industry have prepared 
a bibliography of goat literature, but the titles are so numerous that 
it has been deemed advisable to hold them for separate publication 
rather than to append them here. 



NDEX 



Age — Page. 

and blood, influence on fiber 39 

average 70 

how to tell by'teeth 71 

proper for breeding 70 

Agriculturist, Oregon, notes on the meat as food 48 

Allen, Richard, remarks on history of importation into United States 14 

American — 

Angora Goat Breeders' Association 83 

Institute, report of committee on examination 17 

Angora — 

city, geographical and historical notes 12 

temperature 54 

number of Angora goats, 1894 82 

number of Angora goats, production of mohair, etc 38 

Angora goats — 

building up and management of flock 68 

care, general remarks 57 

description 21 

early distribution 19 

history in United States 13 

number in Angora, 1894 82 

number in Angora and Cape of Good Hope 38 

number in Cape of Good Hope, 1893-1898 81 

number in United States, 1898 81 

number to an acre 36 

readily sold for meat 49, 50 

recent awakened interest 9 

origin and history 10 

place of origin 12 

uses, general remarks 26 

where and what they are 10 

Antimony butter for foot rot 80 

Ash in goats' and cows' milk 51 

Asia Mmor, different kinds of Angora goats 15 

Bachman, John — 

description of Angora goats 22 

relation between mohair and climate of Angora 12 

Bailey Angora Goat Eegistration Association 83 

Bailey, C. P.— 

notes on browsing 31 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kemp 43 

notes on pasturage 35 

85 



86 INDEX. 

Bailey, C. P. — Continued. Page. 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on the meat as food 48 

notes on weight and value of fleece 39 

opinion of dehorning , 76 

remarks on kemp 40 

remarks on management of kids 64 

Barnes, Almont — 

estimate of available land 56 

reference to article on goats 9 

Barnette, Josephus R. — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kidding 68 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on sale for meat ,_. 50 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Beck, Q. M.— 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

opinion of dehorning 76 

remarks on browsing 29 

Bezoar goat, note 11 

"Billy Atlanta" in California 19 

Binns, Henry 0. — 

crossing of Angora and Kurd goats 15 

description of Angora goats 21 

Black, William L. — 

effect of climate on mohair 55 

hornless Angora goats 23 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kemp , 43 

notes on kidding 67 

notes on sale for meat , 50 

notes on shedding 79 

remarks on browsing 30 

Blackburn, Abe — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kemp 43 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on shedding 79 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Blood and age, influence on fiber 39 

Blue vitriol for foot rot 80 

Breed, name 24 

Breeding — 

in-and-m ^ 71 

in-and-in, notes by breeders 72 

proper age 70 

Brown, W. — 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Browsing — 

adds game flavor 33 

and pasturage 26 

character furnished by different States 32 



INDEX. 87 

Browsing — Continued. Page. 

notes by breeders - 31 

remarks by E. H. Jobson 30 

remarks by H. T. Fuchs 29 

remarks by J. R. Standley 28 

remarks by Q. M. Beck 29 

remarks by William L. Black 30 

supplements feeding 33 

value in Iowa 28 

value in Oregon 27 

Brush — 

destroyers, utility of common goats 33 

land, ability to clear 26 

land, preserving for browsing 33 

Buck- 
management 74 

number of does he should serve 74 

service, remarks by G. A. Hoerle 74 

Butter — 

fat in goats' and cows' milk 51 

of antimony for foot rot 80 

Cape of Good Hope — 

heavy export duty 18 

number of Angora goats, 1893-1898 81 

number of Angora goats, production of mohair, etc 38 

production of mohair, 1877, 1882, 1887, 1892-1897 82 

temperature ^4 

Capra xgagrus — 

description - H 

note 11 

Capra falconeri — 

description r H 

note 11 

Capra hircus, note .; H 

Casein in goats' and cows' milk - 51 

Cashmere goats, description by Israel S. Diehl 15 

Castration of kids ^^ 

Chenery, C. W. , importer 18 

Chenery importation in California 19 

Cladek,V.— 



notes on in-and-in breeding. 



, 73 

notes on pasturage - 35 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Climate — 

adapted 54 

effect on mohair 55 

Clipping machine for shearing goats 77 

Conklin Bros. — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kidding ^7 

notes on sale for meat 50 

Cook & Buck- 
notes on pasturage 35 

notes on the meat as food - 48 



88 INDEX. 



Copper sulphate for foot rot 80 

Cows' and goats' milk, comparison 51 

Cranston Worsted Mills, mohair consumed, 1899 82 

Cumberbatch, H. A., climate of Angora vilayet 12 

Davis, James B. — 

appointment as cotton expert for Turkey 13 

first importer 14 

number and sex of animals imported 14 

Dehorning 76 

Diehl & Brown — 

importation into Ohio 20 

importers - 18 

Diehl, Israel S. — 

description of Angora goats 15, 22 

different kinds of Angora goats in Asia Minor 15 

investigation of mohair industry in Angora 21 

Dip, carbolic, for screw worm 80 

Dipping for lice 80 

Diseases and other enemies 79 

Eheler, W. W. , notes on browsing 32 

Enemies 79 

Eutichydes, A. , importer 18 

Factories and markets 43 

Feeding — 

general remarks 60 

fastidiousness of goats 61 

in winter, notes by breeders , 61 

quantity of grain 61 

supplemented by browsing 33 

Fence, suitable kind 58 

Fencing and herding 58 

Fiber — 

influence of age and blood 39 

of mohair, quality 36 

Fink, Henry — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kidding 67 

Flavor, game, added by browsing 33 

Fleece — 

care after shearing 77 

system of assorting 78 

weight and length 39 

Flock- 
best 68 

building up and management 68 

building up by crossing upon common goat - 69 

building up from small beginning 69 

building up, remarks by G. A. Hoerle 70 

building up, remarks by H. T. Fuchs 69 

Flocks, size 75 

Foot rot, treatment 80 

Fuchs, H. T.— 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kemp 43 



INDEX. 89 

Fuchs, H. T. — Continued. Page. 

notes on kidding 67 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on shearing 76 

notes on shedding 79 

notes on the meat as food 48 

notes on trapping wolves 80 

remarks on browsing 29, 32 

remarks on building up flock 69 

remarks on protection to sheep by goats 53 

Game flavor added by browsing 33 

Gestation, period 74 

Goats — 

and cows' milk, comparison 51 

Angora. {See Angora goats. ) 

common, as brush destroyers 33 

common, number in United States 9 

distinctive characteristics 10 

wild, number of species 10 

Gold Medal Braid Co., mohair consumed, 1899 82 

Goodall, George B. — 

defects of American-grown mohair 38 

notes on handling fleeces 78 

remarks on kemp 41 

Goodall Worsted Co. , mohair consumed, 1899 82 

Grant, U. S.— 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kidding 68 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on shedding 79 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Grass and weeds as pasturage 34 

Hair of goats spun by Israelites 12 

Harris & Baylor — 

effect of climate on mohair 55 

notes on kemp 43 

notes on kidding 67 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Harris, John S. — 

importer 18 

practice of in-and-in breeding 72 

Hayes, John L. — 

opinion of descent of Angora goats 11 

report on test of the meat in California 46 

Herding and fencing 58 

Hinkle, E. A., notes on shedding 79 

History — 

and origin 10 

in United States 13 

Hoag, J. Murray — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on shedding 68 



90 INDEX. 

Hoerle, Gustav A. — Page. 

description of Aiigora goats 23 

notes on browsing 31 

notes on in-and-in breeding 72 

notes on kemp 42 

notes on mohair 37 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on shedding 79 

notes on sale for meat . . . . .- 50 

notes on the meat as food 47 

quantity of grain to feed 61 

remarks on building up flock 70 

remarks on service of bucks 74 

system of assorting fleeces 78 

Hollings, S. B., notes on mohair 37 

Hook, Bryan, remarks on fastidiousness of goats 61 

Hornless Angora goats 1 23 

"Hornless Johnnie," note by W. M. Landrum 23 

Houck, George A. — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kemp , 43 

notes on kidding 67 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on shedding 79 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Hughes, W.G.,& Co.— 

method of separating kids and does 64 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kidding 67 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on shedding 79 

notes on the meat as food 47 

Ibexes, distinctive characteristics 10 

In-and-in breeding — 

general remarks 71 

notes by breeders 72 

Jobson, E. H. — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 72 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on the meat as food 46, 47, 48 

remarks on browsing 30 

remarks on kemp 41 

Johnston, E,. C. — 

notes on browsing 32 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Kemp — 

description 40 

general remarks 40 

remarks by breeders 42 

remarks by C. P. Bailey 40 

remarks by E. H. Jobson 41 



INDEX. 91 

Kidding — Page. 

and thie kids, general remarks 63 

corral method 64 

Mexican method of management 63 

notes by breeders 66 

proper time 63 

staking method 65 

Kids — 

and kidding, general remarks 63 

castration 66 

nmnber dropped by one doe ,. 75 

weaning 66 

Kimball, H. I.— 

notes on kidding 68 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on the meat as food 48 

notes on use of clipping machines 77 

Kurd goat, crossing with Angora goats in Angora 21 

Land — 

available for goat culture 56 

brush, ability to clear 26 

brush, preserving for browsing 33 

enrichment from manure 53 

Landrum, F. 0. — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kidding 66 

Landrum, William M. — 

award by California Exposition 15 

first Angora goats in CaUfornia 19 

first to discover that so-called Cashmere was Angora 16 

remarks on temperature withstood by goats 55 

Leather from goatskins, remarks 52 

Lewis, J. D., notes on browsing 32 

Lice, remedy 80 

Localities adapted 54 

Looms once in operation in Angora 21 

McGovern, L, notes on the meat as food 48 

Mclntire, W. T.— 

notes on kidding -... 68 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Machine, clipping, for shearing goats 77 

Manufactures — 

of mohair, general remarks 44 

of mohair, uses 45 

Manure, enrichment of land 54 

Markets — 

and factories 1 43 

and the meat 45 

general remarks 49 

Marking, general remarks 62 

Massachusetts Mohair Plush Company, mohair consumed, 1899 82 

Mastin, Thomas H., notes on sale for meat 50 



92 INDEX. 

Page. 

Maurice, Price, importer 18 

Meat— 

and the markets, general remarks 45 

as food, notes by breeders 47 

name 24 

tests in California 46 

Milk- 
comparison of that of the goat and the cow 51 

of the Angora goat 50 

sugar in goats' and cows' milk 51 

Miller & Sibley, notes on the meat as food 47 

Miller, G. B. , notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

Mohair — 

defects of American-grown 38 

deleterious features 43 

effect of climate on character 55 

from United States in Bradford market 37 

how separated from kemp 41 

imported, amount manufactured in United States, 1899 82 

manufactures, general remarks „ 44 

name 36 

production in Cape of Good Hope, 1877, 1882, 1887, 1892-1897 82 

production in United States, 1899 82 

uses in manufactures 45 

what quality depends upon 36 

National Angora Record Association 83 

New York State fair, report on examination 17 

Noilage, meaning of term 41 

Noils 43 

Odor of bucks and fleece 24 

CEsophagostoma venulosum 80 

Ogden, Philo, notes on pasturage 34 

Oregon Agriculturist, notes on the meat as food 48 

Origin and history 10 

Parasites 80 

Pasturage — 

and browsing : 26 

of grass and weeds 34 

Pasturing with other stock 35 

Paseng goat, note 11 

Pashum — 

how taken and prepared for use 16 

under coat of Cashmere 16 

Payne, William R. — 

manufactures of mohair 45 

uses of Angora skins .' . . . 52 

Pelts, uses and value 52 

Pens and shelter, general remarks 59 

Peters, Richard — 

award at United States Agricultural Society 16 

founder of industry in United States 18 

importation from Asia Minor 18 

purchase of Davis importation in 1853 17 



II^DEX. 93 

Page. 

Pets, use of Angora goats 54 

Plants poisonous to goats — 80 

Pneumonia, verminous 80 

Porter, George A. , note on Davis importation 14 

Queensbury mills, mohair consumed, 1899 82 

Queensland Agricultural Journal, notes on the meat as food 47 

Registration associations 10, 83 

Richardson Brothers — 

notes on kidding 68 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on the meat as food 48 

Ridgels ( ' * riginals " ) , disposal 75 

Robes from skins 52 

Round worms affecting 80 

Rugs from skins 52 

Sanf ord Mills, mohair consumed, 1899 82 

Salting, general remarks 62 

Scab parasites 80 

Schreiner, S. C. Cronwright — 

description of Angora goats 22 

opinion of descent of Angora goats 11 

Sderostoma lujpostomum 80 

Scott, G. M.— 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kidding 68 

notes on shedding 79 

Screw worm, treatment 80 

Sexes, name 24 

Shearing — 

and shedding 76 

care of fleece 77 

once or twice a year 76 

use of clipping machines 77 

Shedding — 

and nonshedding, existing contention 1 24 

and shearing 76 

general remarks 78 

notes by breeders 79 

Sheep protected by goats 53 

Shelter and pens, general remarks 59 

Skins — 

for robes, rugs, and trimmings 52 

uses and value 51 

Smith, W. W.— 

notes on kidding 68 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

Soil, character adapted 56 

Staking the kid 63 

Standley, J. R. — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on sale for meat 50 

remarks on browsing " 28 



94 INDEX. 

Page. 

Stiles, W. H. , importer 18 

Stomach worm, treatment as for sheep 80 

Strongylus contortus, treatment as for sheep 80 

Strongylus filicoUj.s 80 

Sulphate of copper for foot rot 80 

Tapeworms, kinds affecting 80 

Tariff on mohair 82 

Teeth, showing age 71 

Temperature adapted 54 

Tingue Manufacturing Co. , mohair consumed, 1899 „ 82 

Toggling the kid 63 

Tom, Oscar- — 

notes on in-and-in breeding 73 

notes on kemp 43 

notes on kidding 67 

notes on pasturage 35 

notes on sale for meat 50 

notes on the meat as food 48 

remedy for foot rot 80 

suitable shed 59 

Tooke, W. Hammond — 

number of Angora goats in Cape of Good Hope, 1893-1898 81 

remarks on suitable land in United States 57 

statement of production of mohair in Cape of Good Hope, 1877, 1882, 1887, 

1892-1897 , 82 

United States as competitor of Cape of Good Hope 18 

Trapping wolves 80 

Trichocephcdus affinis 80 

Trimmings from skins „ 52 

Tuberculosis 80 

Turkey — . 

production of mohair 82 

prohibition of exports of goats ". 18 

Sultan's request for cotton expert 13 

Uncinaria cernua 80 

United States Agricultural Society, award to Richard Peters 16 

Verminous pneumonia 80 

AValn, A. T., notes on the meat as food 48 

Water in goats' and cows' milk 51 

Weaning the kids 66 

Weeds and grass as pasturage 34 

Westfield Braid Co., mohair consumed, 1899 82 

Weyand, Julius, report on industry in California 20 

Williamson, H. M. , notes on pasturage 34 

Wolf, enemy to goats 80 

Worm — 

screw, treatment 80 

stomach, treatment as for sheep 80 

Worms, round, affecting 80 





LBFe '07 



%. 



^4 



